


one touch (is all you need)

by orphan_account



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-02-12
Packaged: 2018-09-19 15:27:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9447506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Hitoka Yachi has always wanted to find somewhere to belong to. She finds it in the Karasuno boys' volleyball team and in Shimizu Kiyoko.





	1. here come the dreams of you (and me)

As Yachi struggles to get through the morning, she hears the murmurs in the corridor about the “hot third-year.” She barely notices anything as she trudges to her classroom, one heavy foot in front of the other. The syrup of the pancakes she made herself remains sweet in her mouth, although she is a hundred and two percent sure if her mom ever found out about her relapse into her overly-sweet tooth, she’ll have everything else banned, including the not-so-secret stash of jellybeans she hides under her can of coloured pencils. 

Yachi shyly says hi to the girls she knows from class 4 who are on their way to their classroom as well. She met them a while back in the library when one of the girls, Kaori, had the book she was supposed to check out. It had been a funny incident, mostly from Kaori’s end, as it had been more or less traumatic for Yachi. She had thought the girl was stalking her, and Yachi had already offered her lunch for the rest of the year just to have the girl leave her alone. Kaori and her friends had a short laugh about it before they offered Yachi a seat at their table. She had joined them in one or two study sessions after that, and had been friends since. 

She yawns again, and hears the boys from another class talk about the “hot third-year” once more. Yachi is mildly amused but couldn’t find it in herself to care. It is a few hours before noon, which means she isn’t functioning fully yet. She isn’t really what you call a morning person—late nights because of her mother’s tendencies to stay up just as late did that to you. She is lucky she had enough willpower until noon struck to stay awake, or else she’d have been kicked out long before freshman year started. 

She is thinking about the lunch she packed for herself and her mom—Yachi has been learning to cook and has taken the reins in the kitchen—and she is really proud of what she had whipped up today, given the grogginess she felt from waking up early for school: teriyaki salmon, some steaming white rice, and miso soup. 

Yachi is imagining the cloud of miso forming at the base of her thermos when she sees her, dark hair and pale skin walking with purpose towards Yachi. The blonde feels a little panic rise up at the back of her throat. Was she someone sent to perhaps finish her off? She looks behind the tall girl to see many of her fellow freshmen looking towards the girl and her, and only then does Yachi realise that the bell is ringing. 

She runs past the girl with dark hair and into her classroom, still hearing the murmurs about the hot third year. Maybe she was the one with dark hair in the corridor earlier? Yachi couldn’t dwell on the matter at the moment—she is already using most of her energy to stay awake. Hamada-sensei already started on the lesson, and the girl-slash-possible-assassin from the corridor becomes the last thing in her mind.

* * *

 

Until after lunch. She feels pretty proud about her cooking, and so is her mom, if the photo she uploaded on Instagram with a rather colourful caption was anything to go by. She is on her way from the bathroom back to her classroom so she could read up for her next class when she sees her again. The possible third year, with pale skin and dark hair. She stops in front of Yachi and says hi.

“Are you in any club?” She asks. Yachi notices that her voice is soft, much like how her hair probably is. The girl in glasses looks at her expectantly, and Yachi shakes her head. The girl obviously lights up at that. Yachi briefly wonders why she would—the fact that Yachi hasn’t found any club she could belong in sometimes kept her awake at night, wondering if she’d just be one of those students too focused in their academics they don’t really care if their social and extra-curricular lives are affected.

“I’m Shimizu Kiyoko, third year class four,” the tall girl introduces. Yachi blushes when she realizes that yes, this is the hot third year everyone was talking about earlier this morning. She talks about how she is the manager of the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team, which Yachi hasn’t really heard of yet, and that she’s looking for an assistant manager. That was pretty much all of what Yachi heard, because she gets too focused on staring at Kiyoko-san— _Shimizu-senpai._

_She’s so pretty_ , Yachi thinks. She feels her cheeks heat up at her thought and she is sure she is red by now, and she bites her lip in an attempt to not be. Shimizu-senpai’s lips are still moving. Yachi is vaguely aware of the melody of her voice in her ear, but all she can think about is how _pretty_ she is. 

_So, she’s a third-year. She’s so pretty,_ her mind says. Yachi feels her breath catch when her gaze falls down to the third year’s lips again. _The mole by her mouth is sexy too. So pretty._ Yachi sees movement behind the dark-haired girl, and she focuses her gaze on two boys who are looking their way.  _Everyone’s totally staring at her too_ , she realizes, and normally, there would’ve been brewing paranoia in the pit of her gut, worrying about crazed fans and all sorts of things, but she could only stare.

Shimizu-senpai, if her muddled mind remembers correctly, seems to ask a question, based on the expectant expression on her face. Yachi mentally slaps herself because she totally wasn’t listening, too entranced by that too-perfect face and those lips and then—she squeaks and agrees, because Shimizu-senpai still seemed to be expecting a response. Yachi’s answer seems to be right though, because an excited smile graces those lips, and then there were soft hands on Yachi’s right.

“I’ll come by again after school.” And then the hands on hers were gone, though Yachi still felt the warmth on her hand and on her cheeks, from blushing for the past three minutes or so. She looks at the flyer on her left hand and hears one of her classmates say “wow, that third year is so pretty.” Yachi doesn’t think too much about her earlier thought process, telling herself that everyone who probably saw Shimizu-senpai were reduced to bumbling idiots who can’t do anything but praise her beauty.

It seemed feasible. She had the displeasure of listening to her mother rant about one of her clients who seemed too perfect, too beautiful to be real, and how she and her assistant had to fumble for words that didn’t involve complimenting the lady for a few minutes.

Maybe that was just that. 

* * *

The sun is slowly making its way down the sky when Shimizu-senpai returns for her. Yachi feels the jealous gaze on her when she walks out of class, feels even more eyes on her and Shimizu-senpai as they walk side by side to the gym. She is quiet the whole time, and only when her senior asked her if she was okay did she talk, barely squeaking out a yes that made Shimizu-senpai laugh.

“There’s no need to be nervous, Hitoka-chan,” Shimizu-senpai says with a grin, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. A little voice in Yachi’s mind is telling her that’s _exactly_ what murderers say to their victims before they kill them, but she shakes it off with a firm nod to the taller girl. 

They reach the gym a short while later. Shimizu-senpai enters first to get everyone’s attention, and when she is introduced, Yachi steps inside. She is trembling as Shimizu-senpai introduces her to the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team. They seem intense, too intense for Yachi’s liking. She is half-sure she just screamed her name, and ducks her head to stare at the floor. She couldn’t look at any of them, only at the shiny hardwood and the team members' rubber shoes. God, they have big feet, which could probably crush Yachi’s head easily. She shivers at the thought, feels panic flood her tiny body that she immediately freaks out when a guy with a goatee asks her if she is a first year. Before she could answer, an orange haired-boy tells goatee guy that Yachi _is_ going to be the team's manager next year.

She’s going to be sick. There is the beginning of bitterness at the back of her throat, the tell-tale sign of her panic. 

Yachi hears Shimizu-senpai speak again. She is grateful when she swoops in to say that Yachi is only there to try things out first, and with another admonishment to the boys, she ushers Yachi out of the gymnasium door with a thank you, and made Yachi promise that she'll come back later after class. It relaxes Yachi, in a way; they had just met, but the blonde girl liked the feeling of being a bit important, for once.

As she leaves, she manages to bump into someone who she is sure was part of Shimizu-senpai’s fan club, and all her earlier ease flies out the window. Yachi made sure she watched her back for any attack that might arrive soon, because she had been too close to the third she had just met.

* * *

Yachi finally relaxes when she returns to her classroom. A few boys from her class surround her desk when she sits down, readily asking about the third year who came for her earlier. She tells them that she’s the manager of the boys’ volleyball club, a club that no one else apparently knew existed. She condenses her story into a few sentences, still on-the-edge after earlier’s events. 

Her reprieve is short-lived when the orange-haired boy and another tall, scary-looking guy, probably from the volleyball club as well, come to her classroom later that day. She struggles to remember their names, only later on remembering that they haven’t introduced themselves. Her usual paranoia begins to sink in—were they also fans of Shimizu-senpai?—until they clarify they were only there to ask for her help in studying.

The blonde girl hesitates for a bit. She isn’t much of a teacher, and she tells them so, but the orange-haired boy—Hinata, she learns—that she couldn’t probably do worse that what their other teammate has been doing. She agrees, a little later, telling herself that it would be easier for her to learn the lesson by heart if she teaches it to someone else.

She learns later on that no, Hinata isn’t a manager, but is actually a player, and Yachi couldn’t apologise enough. 

When Hinata and his teammate, Kageyama, left, Yachi stayed for a little while. She spends a few minutes in the silence of her classroom before sneaking in to the gym, just like she promised Shimizu-senpai.

The boys are already practicing when she arrives. Yachi stays by the sidelines, afraid of the bouncing balls that could probably hit her nose off. She straightens up when Shimizu-senpai walks up to her. Yachi smiles back at her senior. 

“You’ll be observing today,” Shimizu-senpai says. Yachi swallows nervously and clenches her fists on the front of her shirt. The tall girl in front of her offers her a comforting smile. "You don’t have to be nervous,” she adds, and Yachi tries finds ease in her senpai's words. 

“Wight!” She hears herself say, and she mentally cringes, a blush dusting her cheeks. Great job, Yachi. Look more of an idiot in front of the pretty lady, alright? Shimizu-senpai looks at her with amusement, before turning serious. “Be careful of stray shots,” Shimizu-senpai says before leaving. 

Stray shots? 

_That_ certainly did not comfort Yachi. She is instantly in alert mode, heart pounding in a way that is definitely not caused by a certain dark-haired girl. Shots? Are there assassins? She whirls in her spot, head turning whichever way to find any possible hiding spots for hired killers, and— _oh my god_ , it’s the head of Shimizu-senpai's fan club!

Yachi squeaks and pales, until the tall, blonde man in a headband tells her that  _he’s the freaking coach._

Yachi doesn’t think she’s ever apologised more times than that day. 

She stands quietly at the side of the court, letting herself bathe in the shame of her paranoia and judgement. She stays like that for a few minutes until the practice distracts her from  her self-imposed misery. She hasn’t really seen actual, competition-level volleyball aside from her P.E. classes where she watches other students play, but she thinks the boys’ volleyball team is actually good.

She sees the ball make it’s way straight to her face, but could only stare at it. She feels scared, but couldn’t move, and her panic only struck when Hinata hits the ball away from her. She hears more than sees Shimizu-senpai's worry when she asks her if she was okay. She tears her gaze away from where she had been staring at the ball and looks at her senior. She is okay now. She watches as Shimizu-senpai absent-mindedly yet gracefully hits another stray ball coming for her yet again—someone is probably up to something, Yachi thinks distantly—as the taller girl talks so passionately about the team. 

Karasuno is no longer a flock of flightless birds, Shimizu-senpai says. Yachi looks from her senior to the team on the court, all grins and hard work as they play.

“This time, we’re going to the nationals stage.” Yachi turns back to the dark-haired girl at that. She says it with so much fervour that Yachi could only stare at her in admiration. She’s never heard anyone say anything as heartfelt at that, never found anyone as passionate in something like that. It makes Yachi feel…something, in her chest, something dangerously close to envy, but not quite. Bitterness, perhaps, at herself, since she has never been as _passionate_ as Shimizu-senpai or any of these boys on this court. 

It fizzles into amazement in a short while as she continues to watch the team practice. Afterwards, while she helps them clean up—after insisting that she’d help out, despite Shimizu-senpai’s request not to—she witnesses the boys' excitement about their next practice match. She’s never seen anyone as impassioned as this flock, and once again, there’s the unfamiliar feeling settling over Yachi. 

She bids everyone goodbye after, and promises Shimizu-senpai that she’ll return the next day, and that the intensity of the team definitely did not scare her away. Yachi hasn’t decided yet what that fire in them made her feel, but for now, she is happy just to be part of something. 

Yachi tells her mom exactly that when she got home, before her mother left. 

"Joining passionate people when you aren’t going to give it your all is the rudest thing you can do,” her mom said. It’s all she could think about as she lays in bed. Is it fair for her to drag the boys’ volleyball team in her soul-searching? Is it fair to Shimizu-senpai, who looked too innocent, too grateful, too _hopeful_ when Yachi said yes? She grumbles as she buries herself into the warmth of her blankets. It wouldn’t hurt to try, right? Not just for herself, but for the team, for Shimizu-senpai.

* * *

That night, Yachi dreams of bickering crows, pale skin, dark hair, and soft hands, all of which receded into the shadows as sunlight wove its way through her blinds, waking Yachi up for a new day. 


	2. it's like I'm always searching (for the right words to say)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachi decides to be one of the managers.

When Yachi leaves home that morning, her mother shoots her a little worried look that she guesses was because of what her mom told her the night before. Yachi just smiles at her mom and tells her they were having gyudon for lunch. She thinks a little about what her mom said while she walks to school. She also thinks about her little trial run the day before with the boys’ volleyball team, how welcoming they all were, how Shimizu-senpai even offered to walk home with her. Yachi wonders what kind of day is waiting for her, if it would be as interesting as yesterday.

She remembers overhearing Coach Ukai and the adviser, Takeda-senpai, if she’s right, about the team’s lack of funds for the away games in Tokyo. She hasn’t really decided yet about coming, hasn’t even decided if she’ll _actually_ join the team, but she thinks she could prove that she’s trying, if she helped out on that matter. It would certainly make things even for her and Shimizu-senpai, who worked so hard to recruit someone like _her_ to the team. Shimizu-senpai worked so hard, and so should she, right?

It was one of the things she realised last night before she fell asleep. That she should at least try, for Shimizu-senpai, or else her throngs of fans might end up putting a bullet between her eyes for wasting their precious idol’s time—although, the more Yachi thought about it, the less plausible it seemed.

Yachi greets the girls from class 4 before heading to her own classroom. Compared to yesterday, today is proving to be uneventful. Class started without hitch, and Yachi focuses on listening to the lesson and writing her notes. She finishes an activity for fourth period early, and while waiting for everyone else to finish, she finds herself drawing a familiar set of lips on her notebook. Yachi only realises whose it belongs to when she dots the mole on her right-hand side.

She blushes furiously in her seat and squirms. She hears her teacher ask if she was okay. She nods and lets out a sigh of relief much like everyone else when the bell finally rings, except hers is for a wholly different reason.

The incident, so she calls it, makes her a little apprehensive about going to the gym later, except she remembers that she actually promised Shimizu-senpai that she’ll see her today. Yachi bites her lip as she fixes her things at the end of her last class, the drawing from earlier ripped off of her notebook and tucked neatly in her breast pocket. She had placed it there, worried that if she kept the drawing in her notebook, someone would find it—possibly Hinata and Kageyama when she lends it to them—and if she threw it away, someone would find it, and she didn’t really like the idea of someone _else_ having a drawing of Shimizu-senpai’s lips.

Her muse sees her while she’s on her way to the gym. She smiles wordlessly at her senior, who greets her a good day.

“G-good afternoon, Shimizu-senpai,” Yachi greets back, and when she meets the third year’s gaze, her gray eyes seem concerned. Yachi mentally tries to point out exactly what she said wrong, but before she could come up with anything, Shimizu-senpai chuckles softly and shakes her head.

“Please. Call me Kiyoko.”

Yachi gawks at that. She doesn’t want anyone to think that she doesn’t respect Shimizu-senpai. She certainly doesn’t feel like she deserves to call Shimizu-senpai anything else other than _senpai_. She is about to argue, a protest on the tip of her tongue, but a pointed look on Shimizu-senpai’s face makes her forget her words. Yachi just nods.

They haven’t changed into their training clothes yet, so Shimizu-senpai— _KIyoko-san_ —invites her to the changing room, which she hasn’t had the chance to see. Yachi lets out an amazed gasp as she took it in. Kiyoko-san says it's shared with the girls’ volleyball team. Yachi stiffens a little at that, mind immediately going on alert, thinking about stalkers who are probably lurking in the changing room. Her eyes scan the area, the lockers, trying to find possible hiding places. Her overactive imagination shuts up when she hears Kiyoko-san speak.

“Hinata told me. About yesterday.”

Yachi stills for a bit, but let the tall girl continue. “I know you aren’t as well-versed in volleyball as him or the rest of the first years. But,” Kiyoko-san pauses, and Yachi finally turns her head to look at Kiyoko-san. Who, at the moment, seems to be unbuttoning her shirt. Yachi blushes hard, her cheeks so red it could bring tomatoes to shame, and she tries to keep her gaze on a safe level. How is she supposed to listen while a beautiful lady was _right there?_

“I don’t think everyone has to like something before giving it a try,” Kiyoko carries on, so comfortable in her own skin that Yachi is sure one of the things she feels at the moment is jealousy. Her words strike something in Yachi though, and she bites her lip in thought. "I don’t think you need an unwavering will or lofty motive just to get started. Sometimes, things that you start on a whim end up becoming very important to you, too.” Kiyoko-san puts on the glasses she had removed earlier and glances at Yachi with a lovely smile. "To get started, I think you just need a little bit of curiosity.”

Yachi stares at Kiyoko-san, lost for words. Her mind whirls at her senior’s words, and she doesn’t realise she had been staring at the other for too long until Kiyoko-san tilts her head curiously and asks if she was okay. Yachi squeaks and nods then hurries to change, Kiyoko-san’s words still in her head.

When they arrive at the gym, Kiyoko-san asks for her help in lining up a couple of chairs for the visiting team. Hinata offers to help but Yachi declines politely, telling him that he should focus on the match. The orange-haired boy exclaims in excitement and before Yachi could stop herself, she asks Hinata why he studies so hard to play on away games and gets so fired up for a practice game.

Hinata says it’s because he wants to be stronger and win. "Do you need a reason not to want to lose?” He adds, and Yachi stares at him and Kageyama as they talk among themselves about it. She overhears them saying something, and Yachi sees passion personified.

 _So this is on the same level as hunger?,_ she asks herself. She feels a little confused, but she thinks it’s because she and Hinata aren’t really on the same level when it came to passion, or anything close to it, for that matter. Yachi feels a little disappointment in herself at that.

A little while later, when the other team had arrived and everyone is finished warming up, she stands by the sidelines watching the boys run towards the middle of the court. Shimizu-senpai— _Kiyoko-san,_ she tells herself, and that she had to get used to it or else she’ll see _that_ look on the tall girl’s face again—says they have to line up too. She does so and notices that everyone is big on the other team. She feels mild panic about the volleyballs that might stray her way later during the game because oh god, everyone probably hit hard enough to tear an arm away from someone.

Her panic is drowned by another feeling as they stand there, the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team, Kiyoko-san, and her, and greet the visiting team. She remembers the feeling she gets when Hinata and his teammates get all fired up, the fervour in Kiyoko-san’s words as she talked about them, her mother’s words.

She doesn’t have time to dwell on her thoughts as the boys start changing in front of her. She freaks out and blushes, reminiscent of her little moment with Kiyoko-san in the changing room, and the taller girl just says she’ll have to get used to it. Still reeling from the possibly-scarring experience (words she certainly didn’t use to describe her moment with her senpai), she overhears goatee guy—Asahi-san, another third year—talking about his new hairstyle. Kiyoko-san had something to do with it, she hears, and Yachi unconsciously touches her yellow hair. She’s never really had a problem with it, except the little decisions she had to make every groggy morning when she had to decide which star hair clips she’ll use. The team continues to bicker, and Yachi watches them in amusement.

"A flock of birds,” she notes.

“A _murder_ ,” she hears Shimizu-senpai chuckle. Yachi turns to her with a shy smile, a bit embarrassed about being heard. “True, they are crows. But once the game starts, they actually get along great.”

Yachi stares at Shimizu-senpai at that. She’s been in the team long enough to know the team, even these little things about them, and she wonders if she becomes manager, if she’ll ever reach that level. She hears the boys yell excitedly.

_Karasuno, fight!_

There’s that spark again, a little flicker in her gut, or in the back of her mind. She realises, as the boys make their way into the court, that she wants to feel that same passion as they do.

Kiyoko-san teaches her some things while they score during the game. The blonde finds that she easily remembers the rules as her senior talks about them, and she feels like she can _actually_ do this manager thing.

After the game though, Hinata once again asks her to be their manager, and Yachi begins to doubt herself anew. She glances at the ground and nervously tugs at her shirt.

“For an amazing team like this, a Townsperson B like me with no knowledge of sports is just going to get in the way,” she says softly. Yachi hasn’t really voiced her doubts to anyone else, and now that she has said it out loud, there is that pang of disappointment in herself once more. Before she could wallow in her misery, Hinata comforts her and tells her that he’s played some small role before, too. Kageyama chimes in with his usual jibes.

Before they left though, Hinata says something that made Yachi want to _not doubt._

“Townsperson B has its own kind of awesomeness,” Hinata said. That’s when Yachi realised that yes, she wants to be part of this team.

She still stood where Hinata and Kageyama left her. She hears Kiyoko-san before she sees her, and there is an eager smile on her face when she asks Yachi if she could walk home with her. The first year nods, lost in her thoughts. They walk in silence, which Kiyoko didn’t seem to mind. They reach an intersection, and Kiyoko-san pauses mid-step and gestures to the street perpendicular to the one Yachi takes everyday.

“I’m over this way,” Kiyoko-san says. Yachi looks at the street she pointed at and nods. Kiyoko-san bids her good night, but before she could go, Yachi speaks again.

Um, Shimizu-senpai,” she starts, and Kiyoko narrows her eyes at her. Yachi squeaks and mentally traces her words, then tries again. “Kiyoko-san,” she begins. Kiyoko just sighs and smiles for the first-year to continue.

“Um. I’ve been thinking… A-about what you said earlier t-today.” She bites her lip, mulling over her next words. Kiyoko hums and patiently waits for her to continue. Yachi sees the flickering lights at the end of the street and distantly wonders if Kiyoko-san brought something to protect herself with. She shakes her head to clear her thoughts and blushes when Kiyoko-san chuckles. Yachi stammers as she finds her words, her eyes trained on the ground in front of her. “I just— What you said. I think, I uh, I think I’d like to give this m-manager thing a try.” Yachi nods to herself resolutely, and finally brings her eyes up to meet Kiyoko’s. “I’m willing to dive head-first into it, Kiyoko-san.”

Kiyoko stares at Yachi for a few moments, and the blonde girl panics as she sees Kiyoko’s eyes well up. An apology was almost on Yachi’s lips—because oh my god, was it the wrong thing to say? Was it not what Shimizu-senpai— _Kiyoko-san_ —wanted to hear? She’s been hell-bent on trying to finally commit to this, on searching for the right words, for the courage to bring this up, but now it seems that she only messed things up. However, Kiyoko-san only breathes deeply. She reaches for Yachi’s shaking hand—Yachi remembers the first time she did so, in the corridor—and then there’s a grateful smile on her lips and Yachi forgets to _breath._

“Thank you, Yachi,” Kiyoko-san says. The blonde realises this is the first time her senior said her name. Kiyoko squeezes her hand before pulling away. Yachi immediately misses it, but the other girl speaks again, and it’s like the warmth on her hand spread throughout her whole being, embracing her, comforting her in a way nothing has before. She walks home, feeling content and encouraged for the first time in a while.

“You don’t have to worry,” Kiyoko-san had said. “I’ll be with you all the way.”

That night, Yachi starts on her first project—of what she hopes is many—for the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team.

* * *

 

 

Hinata and Kageyama ask Yachi for another tutorial session. The blonde girl readily agrees. The duo can easily become her best friends, if only the two stopped bickering every once in a while to actually notice that Yachi is with them when she’s not explaining some part of the lesson. Yachi couldn’t complain though, she had to admit the two are cute together.

The two leave after an hour, and Yachi walks them out of the apartment building. Her mother walks with them, and really, Yachi should have expected Hinata mentioning Tokyo and the away games. She should’ve told her mother about it earlier, but judging by Hinata’s expression, he didn’t mean to bring it up too.

When the blonde’s alone, she walks back to their apartment with a sign settles one the couch, basking in the quiet. A few minutes into it, just as she is starting to drift to sleep, she hears to doorbell. She opens it to Hinata saying he forgot his textbook. He apologises about earlier, but she brushes it off.

“If you hadn’t brought it up, I would’ve never told my mom about it,” Yachi says with a sigh as she hands Hinata his book. Hinata seems to think about it.

“At this rate, you won’t move forward,” he says, and if Yachi thought before that Hinata was too simple-minded, he just proved her wrong. Yachi looks at him with an expression that looks like he just mildly offended her, but Hinata continues. "If you really want to be our manager, you need to tell your mom.”

Yachi’s jaw drops a little at that. He has a point. She wants to argue, even just a little, but she remembers what she told Kiyoko-san the night before. She’ll dive head-first, she had said.

Kiyoko-san will be with her all the way, she said so.

Yachi lets Hinata drag her all the way to the station. It felt like a shojou manga or something, and she hasn’t felt this excited before. Is this even close to what Hinata feels when he’s in a match? She is thrilled, and her pounding heart is both because of this excitement and god, she has never run this fast in such a short time before. She isn’t even sure her mom is still there.

They reach the station, and just as by the entrance, Yachi sees her mother’s figure. She shouts to get her attention, and since she’s already there, tells her mom with all the determination she can muster that she _is_ going to be one of the managers of the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team.

She only realises when she was walking home on her own, Hinata having gone his way with a proud grin towards Yachi, that she basically made a scene at the station. She imagines all the people she ended up pissing off following her home and planning her murder, and she thinks she got home faster than when she ran with Hinata to the station.

* * *

 

As soon as she could, Yachi tells Takeda-sensei about her idea on how to raise funds for the Tokyo away games. She had already enlisted Hinata and Kageyama’s help, and Takeda-sensei is just as excited as the duo.

That night, her mom helps her out on her project. Her mom asks her about the boy on the poster. Yachi tells her about Hinata, Karasuno’s newest little giant. She didn’t really know about the original one that Hinata looks up to, but Yachi likes to think that Hinata’s his very own weapon, especially with Kageyama by his side. Her mom just hums and if she was talking to Yachi a few days before, that reaction would have been perfectly acceptable. However, the Yachi her mom is talking to _now_ is different, somehow, and she is a little miffed about the bland reaction.

“We’re going to nationals,” Yachi tells her flatly, and if she didn’t focus on her computer monitor while grumbling, she would have seen the flicker of pride in her mother’s eyes.

* * *

 

The next time she visits the gym again, the boys’ captain, Daichi-san, also a third year, tells the team she's officially one of the managers. She stands in front of the team, without most of the nerves and fear she had when she stood there the first time. She had begun to get to know the members of the team, and except for Tanaka-san and Noya-san, she feels pretty at ease with all of them.

Kiyoko-san walks up to Yachi and smiles at the blonde, then holds out a black jacket. Yachi unfolds it, at the same time the team welcomes her, and there it is, a physical proof of her belonging to something. Her eyes well up with tears as she feels a warm tug in her heart, and she pulls the jacket to her chest as she thanks the team, Daichi-san, Kiyoko-san.

She finally feels like she belongs somewhere. _Here_.

* * *

  
After practice, Kiyoko-san asks her if Yachi minds walking with her home. The first year shakes her head. They walk home quietly, just like the first time. It was a chilly night, and Kiyoko grins at Yachi when the smaller girl takes out her jacket and wears it.

“You look good in it,” Kiyoko-san compliments, and the blush on Yachi’s cheeks isn’t because of the cold.

They walk past a store which had a poster of the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team. Kiyoko stops in front of it for a second and Yachi pauses, mentally preparing for some criticism. Her senior did seem like someone who appreciates the arts with a dash of her own scathing remarks, after all—but that’s Yachi’s judgement talking.

“This,” Kiyoko-san starts, and Yachi holds her breath. Kiyoko shakes her head, and the blonde feels a little hurt, but the third year continues. “I actually have no words. You’re great at this.”

Yachi blushes at that, again, and really, it seems like the pink tint on her cheeks is going to stay a while.

“It’s nothing,” she easily dismisses, although she files the compliment away in her happy memories. They continue walking. Yachi tugs on the sleeves of her jacket. "I’ve.. It’s what I can contribute, for now.” A shrug. "I don’t think I’ve ever been as passionate on something like you, or the boys. For now, I’m just happy that I think I’ve realised I belong somewhere.”

She’d thought about the things her mother, Hinata, and Kiyoko-san had said. She’d thought about her lingering doubts, how she’d decided that for once, she’ll try to start somewhere, see where that takes her.

For now, she’s just really glad she realised she wanted to belong with the team, as assistant manager to Kiyoko-san. She’s just glad she feels like she belongs there.

They walk in silence once more, until they reach the intersection where they part. Yachi says good night to her senior, but instead of saying the same, Kiyoko reaches out for her hand and squeezes it.

“Hitoka-chan,” Kiyoko-san says with a smile. “You’ll be right at home with us.”

Yachi tears up again at that and wordlessly thanks Kiyoko.


	3. she keeps me warm (my love, my love)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yachi learns more about volleyball, the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team, and herself at the Tokyo away games.

Yachi has been with the team for a couple of days. She has learned about volleyball more than she could have imagined, but she realises two days into it that if she ignores the hurtling balls that occasionally made their way to her and her face, it is a pretty exciting sport. Kiyoko-san had always been there to protect her from said hurtling balls though, and Yachi learned from her co-manager—as the third year insisted—that it’s a skill that’s learned through time. Yachi hopes it doesn’t take her three years, because Kiyoko-san is graduating in a few months and well, who would save her then?

She’s learned more about the boys, too. Sho-chan and Kageyama-kun make up for their lack of enthusiasm in academics in the sport. Like, really. Yachi has never seen a pair as powerful as the two of them when they’re both on the court, not that she has seen a lot, anyway. It excited Yachi to see them in action during practice week—thought that might be a little later since they have supplemental exams to take. She learned that Noya-san liked betting against Asahi-san that he could save _this_ ball from _that_ spike, then claim a piggy back ride when he wins; that Tsuki doesn’t really talk to anyone but Yamaguchi unless he has to; that everyone is kind of afraid of Daichi-san, and that secretly, he’s afraid of making Sugawara-san mad—although, she’s pretty sure no one else knows that but her.

It had been fun so far. There hadn’t been any assassination attempts, no ambushes in the changing room (except that Kiyoko-san really needs to learn to give Yachi a heads up when she starts changing), and no speeding ball to her face.

So far, so good.

They are bound to Tokyo the next morning. They just finished cleaning up the gym after practice, and Takeda-senpai calls them for a minute to discuss the trip to the away games.

“We’ll meet in front of the school at four in the morning,” Takeda-senpai instructs. He reminds them the things to bring for the week away then sends them home. The boys cheer excitedly. Everyone seems eager to go. They chatter about the teams they’ll be practicing with, and Yachi reminds herself to read over her notes again so she at least has an idea about the said teams.

She overhears Daichi-san say this is the first time in a while the team will ever go to Tokyo, or even practice with the stronger teams there, ever since Ukai-sensei retired. Hinata and Kageyama let out pumped up whoops, but they die down immediately when Tanaka and Noya remind them that they still have exams to take, and so they’d have to come in a little late for the training.

Yachi is excited too. She hasn’t been really away from Miyagi in a while, except that one holiday a year or two back when she and her mom went to Osaka to visit her mom’s best friend.

She dreads the early call time though. Four in the morning? She’s usually still deep in her slumber at four in the morning. What if she doesn’t wake up on time? She couldn’t really trust her mom to wake her up when they both hate mornings. Takeda-sensei might have the bus wait for her for five minutes, but that’s it, and then they’ll just leave her because they don’t really need her there, do they? Yachi groans to herself as she picks up her bag.

“Are you okay?” Yachi hears, and she lets out a little shriek of surprise.

“Sorry,” Kiyoko says with a chuckle as she stands beside Yachi. The blonde lets out a relieved sigh. Together, they take the road they share on the way to their respective homes.

“So, are you okay?” Kiyoko-san asks again.

Yachi sighs but nods. “I'm just, um, not really a morning person.” She shrugs at that. She assumes that most sports-inclined people are morning people. Kiyoko-san probably is one, too. “I’m kind of worried I won’t wake up in time for tomorrow.” _If at all._

“But you’re a sports team’s manager now,” Yachi’s companion replies with a soft laugh, and the first year cringes at the confirmation of her thoughts.

“I’m kidding,” Kiyoko-san continues. “It’s okay if you’re not a morning person. But, don’t you have alarms?”

“I usually sleep through them. My mom isn’t really one for waking up early too, so…” Yachi trails off and shrugs helplessly. There is silence for a moment, and Yachi resigns herself to her doom. Maybe there’s something worthwhile to do for the break to keep herself busy.

A phone is handed her way and she looks up to see Kiyoko-san smiling at her. “Give me your number,” the third year says. Yachi squeaks and blushes at that.

“Um…”

Kiyoko chuckles and gestures for Yachi to take the phone. With unsure hands, Yachi types her number.

“I’ve been meaning to ask for your number. You know, for emergency purposes,” Kiyoko explains. “I always forget to, for some reason, but now I remembered and you have no excuse not to give it to me.” Kiyoko-san grins beautifully, and Yachi blushes once more. She feels like a giddy teen, with a crush on her senpai who just began to notice her.

_Wait, what?_

“H-here,” Yachi says, handing Kiyoko-san her phone back. The dark-haired girl grins as she looks down at her phone.

“I’m going to call you,” she explains as she pockets her phone. “And you have to wake up and answer, because I’d be hurt if you ignore my first call.”

Yachi’s steps falter at that but she manages to keep on walking, and she nods at Kiyoko. They reach the intersection and bid good night to each other. Kiyoko-san reminds Yachi to bring a jacket for tomorrow, because early mornings are bound to get cold. Yachi walks home feeling a little warm at the reminder that someone cares for her.

When she comes home, her mom isn’t there yet, so Yachi fixes herself dinner and leaves a bowl of food in the refrigerator with a note on the door for her mom. After setting her alarms, she lies in bed and begins to psych herself for waking up early later in the morning. Just when she feels sleepiness creep in, her phone beeps. She sleepily takes it from her nightstand, half-expecting a message from her mom saying she’ll be home past midnight, but she’s surprised when it’s from an unknown number.

_Hey, Hitoka-chan. What time should I call?_

Kiyoko-san, she assumes. Yachi squints at her phone at that. She counts the minutes she needs to prepare. Good thing she took her mom’s advise to pack early from a few days before, and now all she really had to do the next day was to wake up and get dressed.

_Around three would be okay?_

Yachi bites her lip as she stares at her ceiling, waiting for a reply. She glances to her bedside clock, which reads 10:02PM, and it changes to the next minute when she hears another beep.

_Would you like to meet at the intersection and walk to school?_

Yachi’s lips quirk up at that. She’d love to, of course, and she begins typing a reply when another message comes in.

_Unless you have heavy bags with you or your mom would drive you to school, in which case, that would be fine too._

She glances at the small duffel bag near the door. She wonders then if she had brought enough things to last her for a week, then wonders if she brought too much. And if she says no to Kiyoko-san, will she be walking to the school alone, at the wee hours of the morning? That would be dangerous. It would be much safer if they walk together. Yachi is prepared anyway, she has her pepper spray with her, has an extra one in the left pocket of her duffel bag. She could give it to Kiyoko-san when—

Her phone beeps again. She blinks twice and looks at it to see another text from Kiyoko-san.

_Hitoka-chan? Are you still awake? uwu_

Yachi flushes a deep red, or so she feels based on the warmth on her cheeks. She notes the little emoji at the end of the text and smiles. She hasn’t really pegged Kiyoko-san to be the type to use emojis, but now that she knows (based on a single text), she finds it endearing. She quickly types a reply.

 _Sorry, dozed of a little._ Lie.

_I’d love to walk to school. We can meet at the convenience store? Around quarter to four?_

It takes a few seconds for her phone to buzz again with Kiyoko-san’s reply.

_Alright. :) Good night! I’ll call you later. Please don’t ignore me. :)_

Yachi replies good night back, and keeps the thought of _as if I can ignore you_ to herself.

* * *

She is in a painting workshop of one of her favourite artists when her phone begins to ring. In her bed, Yachi grumbles, put off that she had been woken up from a nice dream. She feels for her phone on her bedside table and turns off her alarm, mumbling five more minutes to herself.

Her phone rings again and she’s violently kicked into wakefulness when she realises it wasn’t an alarm she ended a few seconds ago. Yachi throws the covers off herself and sits up as she answers the phone call.

“ _Good morning to you too, Yachan_ ,” Kiyoko’s lovely voice, tinted with laughter, greets her. Yachi zones out for a few seconds as she tries to squint at her clock. It’s a minute past four in the morning, way too early for Kiyoko-san to be completely awake, but there she is, on the other side of the phone, laughing at Yachi.

She wonders if she’s still dreaming.

 _”Did you doze of again?_ ” Kiyoko-san asks, and Yachi shakes her head before she remembers she’s on the phone.

“Um, g-good morning, Kiyoko-san,” Yachi croaks, voice scratchy from sleep. She clears her throat as she drags her sleepy butt off the bed. “No, I’m fully awake and up and about."

 _“Good,”_ the third year replies with a soft chuckle. Yachi hears a click from the other end that sounds like a stove being turned on. " _I’ll meet you at the intersection in forty three minutes?_ ”

Yachi glances at her clock again. It’s 4:02AM now, and the blonde smiles to herself as she agrees to Kiyoko-san. She ends the call and gets ready, taking a quick shower and brushing her teeth. She grabs her favourite hair clip from the dresser and keeps it in her pocket so she could tie her hair up when it dries.

When she’s done, she has enough time to make a quick breakfast, so she makes herself a sandwich and a thermos of hot chocolate. She makes an extra thermos for Kiyoko as thank you for waking her up. Five minutes before she is to meet her senior, she sneaks in to her mom’s room to leave a note on her bedside and a kiss to her forehead. She leaves afterwards, remembering to bring her Karasuno jacket as she locks the door behind her.

Kiyoko-san was right, it is indeed cold out. Yachi arrives at the convenience store near the intersection with a puff. Kiyoko is already there, seated on one of the chairs outside the store, all bundled up in her Karasuno jacket and a gray wool scarf.

“Yachan!” She greets with a grin as she gets up. “I was a little worried you’d fall asleep again,” Kiyoko-san teases, and Yachi chuckles a little.

“Good morning, Kiyoko-san,” she greets back. She takes the thermos from her backpack’s side pocket and hands it to the dark-haired girl, who takes it with a puzzled look.

“It’s.. It’s hot chocolate,” Yachi explains, and her senior smiles. “As thank you. For um, waking me up.” Kiyoko’s smile grows wider at that.

“It’s nothing,” she says, but opens the thermos nonetheless and takes a sniff of the hot drink. “Mm. Did you make this?” She asks as they begin to walk to school. Kiyoko is bringing a small duffel bag and a backpack, similar to what Yachi carries with her. The blonde nods in answer to the question, and Kiyoko hums again as she takes a sip, then _moans._

“It’s really good,” Kiyoko says quietly, then takes another sip. Yachi bites her lip to contain a smile, though she's a little...stunned at the reaction. 

The street lamps are on and a few houses have their lights on as well, but other than that, the streets seem lifeless. Yachi didn’t want the silence to lull her into paranoia, not with Kiyoko-san around. She doesn’t want her senior to think of her as any weirder.

“Thank you. Um, it’s my own recipe,” she says, to keep the conversation going. Kiyoko nods at that, then smiles at Yachi.

“You’re really talented, do you know that?” Kiyoko says easily. The first year smiles shyly at that. “You’re smart and cute, artistic. And you make really great hot chocolate.”

Yachi breathes out a laugh at that. No one’s really complimented her like that before. _And cute?_   Whatever, she’ll take it. And for those words to come from someone like Kiyoko-san?

Well. She is willing to wake up everyday at before the crack of dawn just for it.

“It’s.. T-thank you,” Yachi stutters. “I mean, I could say the same thing about you, Kiyoko-san.”

The third year chuckles at that and shakes her head. “There’s nothing special about me. But you, Yachan. You’re something.” Kiyoko-san grins. “The team’s lucky to have you as manager.”

Yachi already has a retort on her lips, something to tell Kiyoko-san that she _is_ special, but she hears Tanaka’s excited yell and she looks from her companion to ahead of them to the school, where some of the boys stand already waiting by the bus. Takeda-sensei is there already, too.

“Kiyoko-san! You made it,” Tanaka says as a way of greeting, and Yachi sighs to herself. He and Noya-san help Yachi and Kiyoko load their bags to the compartment of the bus. When they’re done, Yachi finds Kiyoko-san speaking with Takeda-sensei, probably about the itinerary of the trip and training which Kiyoko will let her know of later. She overhears Tanaka-san telling Noya and Asahi that his sister will be driving Hinata and Kageyama to Tokyo, although warns them that they might not arrive in one piece.

Normally, Yachi would fear for them—imagine a chainsaw-wielding murderer on the loose who kidnaps her friends, or wait, _gasp,_ what if the murderer is Tanaka’s sister?—but she’s still thinking about how in the world Kiyoko-san thinks she’s _nothing special_. Dear Lord, it’s probably a sign of the apocalypse.

That’s the thought she dwells on until Kiyoko-san tells her the topline details from her chat with the coach.

* * *

It’s ten minutes past four when they leave the school. Tsuki was the last one to arrive, and he didn’t look pleased about being up so early in the morning so no one teased him for it. His glare could have killed Yachi. The boys chatter for a bit as coach Ukai takes the first turn to drive. The conversation on the bus eases into silence as the sun comes up, and Yachi feels her earlier drowsiness dawn back. Her eyes fall heavy, and as sleep claims her, she feels something laid over her. In her already-slumbering mind, she realises it’s Kiyoko-san blanketing her with her wool scarf. She thinks she hears the older girl chuckle, and she mumbles a thank you before she falls asleep again.

* * *

Yachi is roused from her sleep by the soft shake on her shoulders. She slowly blinks her eyes open and sees a blurry image of who she assumes is Kiyoko-san. She hums and sits up straight as she tries to rub the sleep off her eyes.

“Are we here?” Yachi asks, to which Kiyoko shakes her head.

“The boys wanted to get breakfast,” she explains. The third year is already on her feet, and Yachi looks out the bus window to see the rest of the team stretching their legs. “I wouldn’t have woken you up, but you might be hungry. Are you?”

As if on cue, Yachi’s stomach rumbles quietly. She ducks her head shyly as Kiyoko laughs.

“Come on.”

Yachi nods and hands the wool scarf to its owner. Kiyoko grins but leaves it on Yachi’s seat as the blonde stands. They get off the bus, Yachi with heavy, sleep-laden steps, and she realises they are at a gas station with a couple of fast food chains. The boys shuffle into a place Sugawara picked, and she wonders where they are. They’re somewhere Yachi doesn’t really recognise, which means they’re out of Miyagi. She checks her watch, realises it’s almost eight in the morning. They have been on the road for four hours.

“We’re already in Tokyo,” Kiyoko says, and Yachi squeaks in surprise. Her senior chuckles at her reaction. One of these days, Kiyoko will give Yachi a heart attack.

“We’re just half an hour away from Nekoma Academy, but like I said, the boys wanted breakfast.” She gestures to the bunch who are lined up at the counter. Yachi nods at that and looks around. Unfamiliar places mean she’s more vulnerable to threats, although, if she thinks a little more positively, who would dare harm her here?

Possible kidnappers, maybe. She does look like a child. She could get mugged too, and if the bus leaves her here, she wouldn't be able to get home and she'd probably die in this place.

Yachi feels a chill run down her spine at that. Kiyoko-san asks her if she’s cold and says she should have brought her scarf, but the blonde assures her she’s fine, despite her internal panic. When the boys are done ordering, they are next, and Kiyoko-san rattles off her order to the counter then faces Yachi. The younger girl squeaks out her order and moves to get money from her pocket, but her senior is already paying for it.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kiyoko says as she’s handed the tray of their sandwiches and orange juice. Kiyoko takes a seat at the end of the table beside Takeda-sensei, and Yachi sits across from her.

“I haven’t really thanked you properly for, you know, a lot of things,” Kiyoko-san continues, her voice much softer now. Yachi has a vague idea of what she means, but before she can ask, Kiyoko clears her throat, signalling the end of that topic. “Besides, the school will pay for it,” the tall girl adds, the smile on her face tinged with smugness.

Yachi doesn’t know what to make of it, so she thanks her senior and proceeds to eat. At the rate the boys were eating, she’d have to catch up with thrice her normal eating speed, or else they might leave her in the restaurant, completely vulnerable to possible criminals.

* * *

Yachi doesn’t fall asleep on the rest of the ride. Kiyoko offered her the window seat when they got back and she accepted it, so she sits there, watching the passing landscape. Aside for the presence of a lot more concrete and metal in the form of buildings and cars, it’s pretty much like home, with the trees and the sky all the same, somehow, and it makes her oncoming homesickness wane a little.

They reach their destination in about half an hour. Nekoma Academy is much like Karasuno, except with much larger land area and even larger buildings. The school is pretty much deserted, that much Yachi noticed, as the bus rolls to a stop in front of a property that looks like a gymnasium.

“Alright,” Takeda-sensei addresses the team as he stands from his seat. “We’re meeting the rest of the teams in a few minutes for introductions, then we’ll be escorted to our quarters. Leave your things here first, we’ll return later to get them.” The team agrees and one by one, they get off the bus. Yachi stretches her legs with a yawn. She walks beside Kiyoko-san. Nekoma looks like a well-funded school, and she wonders how strict the security is here.

“The girls have multiplied!” Yachi hears a voice yell, and she jumps out of her skin in both shock and fear because _who says that?_ She tries to find the source of it. Her eyes land on a tall boy who somewhat looks like Tanaka-san, except he has a yellow stripe of hair on the middle of his head.

 _A mohawk_ , she thinks, just as Kiyoko-san stands in front of her and seems to…shield Yachi from the mohawked boy. They stand there awkwardly watching the boy who is now mumbling to himself until they see Tanaka drag him away.

“Sorry about that,” Kiyoko-san apologises with a sigh as she checks if the first year is okay. Yachi looks at her curiously. “He… Some boys we meet may be kind of, um. Intense, to put it.” Kiyoko-san seems worried, her eyebrows furrowed behind her glasses, and it makes Yachi smile. 

“I have a pepper spray, just in case?” She offers, and Kiyoko shakes her head with a smile.

“Okay, but don’t blind them,” the third year jokes as they follow the team to the gymnasium. Yachi likes to believe she can take care of herself, although it didn’t hurt that there is someone else looking out for her.

At the gym, four other teams have already neatly lined up in front of a line of men Yachi assumes were coaches, as coach Ukai is already there. The blonde lines up behind the rest of the team, beside Kiyoko-san. A grey-haired man in a red and white tracksuit begins to talk, welcoming everyone to the training camp. He hopes everyone learns something by the end of the training. He then introduces a group of volunteer students who’ll guide the individual teams to their accommodations and help with carrying their things, before sending off everyone with a reminder to be back after lunch for training. The coaches walk to their own teams, and Takeda-sensei arrives with a short boy with even shorter hair and a tall, angry-looking boy, both in red and white PE uniform.

“Kiyoko-san, the managers will be staying in a different room,” Takeda-sensei says. Yachi is sure she hears Noya and Tanaka grumble about that, but the blonde is glad she didn’t have to share a room with all of them. The two managers nod and just as the team leaves for their room, a bored-looking girl in a similar-looking PE uniform makes her way to where Kiyoko and Yachi stand, followed by four more girls in track suits.

“Karasuno managers?” The girl asks, to which Kiyoko nods. “Follow me.” The girl walks off, and the Karasuno managers look at each other before following the group.

“Hey there,” a girl with brown hair in a side ponytail greets. “Karasuno, huh?” Yachi nods at that but Kiyoko smiles.

“From Miyagi prefecture,” she says. “I’m Shimizu Kiyoko, third year. This is Hitoka Yachi, first year,” Kiyoko adds, gesturing to Yachi who forces a smile. The blonde isn’t always one to meet new people, but these are girls she’ll be sharing a room with for a week, so she has to socialise. It makes it easier for her to judge if they had evil motives if they got to know them too, she figures.

“H-hi,” Yachi tries, to which the girl with the side ponytail grins.

“Hello! I’m Mako Otaki. From Shinzen High.” She points to the girls walking ahead of them. “That’s Eri Miyanoshita,” she says, pointing to a girl with dark hair and pigtails.

“From Ubugawa High,” Eri-san says with a grin.

“I’m Yukie Shirofuku, third year, Fukurodani,” a girl with short, reddish-brown hair says. She points to the freckled girl in a ponytail walking beside her. “This is Kaori Suzumeda, also a first year.” The girl mentioned wiggles her fingers in a wave.

“Oh? I have a friend from school named Kaori, too,” Yachi blurts about. She blushes at her outburst, but Yukie just laughs.

“Eh, I bet my Kaori is cuter,” she says and ruffles Kaori’s hair, to which the first year huffs. The group shares a laugh, except the girl from Nekoma.

“It’s a pleasure to meet all of you,” Kiyoko-san says, and Yachi echoes her statement with a nod. The other girls grin and nod.

“You lot will have to keep me sane,” Yukie says.

“Damn right,” Mako agrees. The group laughs again.

The Nekoma girl stops in front of a door labeled 3-2. She opens it to reveal an empty classroom, with all the chairs taken out. At one side is a long table with six seats. There were also six futons on the floor, arranged in two neat rows of three, each with a pillow and a neatly folded white blanket. It doesn’t really feel homey, but Yachi’s glad the windows look like they have locks.

“Lunch will be served at the cafeteria. Take the last left at the end of the hall,” their Nekoma guide says before leaving. They walk into the room and Yachi notices that their things are already waiting for them under the long table. The other volunteers must have taken them there, and Yachi realises that means someone else knows where they are staying. She takes her duffel bag as the other managers get theirs and checks if her pepper spray is there. She lets out a sigh when she finds it.

“Yachan,” Kiyoko says as she appears beside the blonde. “Is it okay if I sleep beside you?”

Yachi blushes at the question and she glances to where the futons are. The other girls have already picked theirs, and there were two left, side by side near the windows. Only then does Yachi realise that Kiyoko-san meant _side by side_. She nods. She puts her bag on the floor. She makes a move to sit on the futon when Kiyoko slides hers next to Yachi’s.

“Um, Kiyoko-san?” She asks curiously. Kiyoko-san had joined the two mattresses, and the third year looks at Yachi shyly.

“Do you mind?” Her voice is soft and Yachi isn’t sure but she looks like she is _blushing_. “I’m kind of a bed hog, kind of, and.. Um,” Kiyoko bites her lip and Yachi blushes as well as she finds herself staring. “I toss and turn a lot, and.. I don’t want to end up on the cold floor in the morning, so…” She trails off, looks expectantly at the blonde, and Yachi could only shake her head.

“Not at all! I mean, I don’t mind, Kiyoko-san,” she says, almost too eagerly. Kiyoko looks relieved and says a thank you. The girls busy themselves with fixing some of their things until Yukie gets up and tells them they should get lunch already.

The group of managers agree to eat together at one table, just as an icebreaker. Yachi notices how the cafeteria, already littered with the teams, shushes as the group enters. She sees Noya and Tanaka waving their way, but Kiyoko-san pays them no notice, which makes Mako snicker.

Yachi learns a couple of things about the managers on the table. For one, all of them really like what they’re doing. Each of them support their own teams whole-heartedly. Kiyoko-san had glanced her way at that, and Yachi just smiles at her, wordlessly saying that yes, she does support the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team as well.

After eating, everyone took a short break then headed to the gym, where the first match is to start.

* * *

The penalty for losing is practice dives. It worried Yachi to see the team do it too many times in a row for her to count, but the other teams they are against are really strong. They are top performing schools, after all, and Yachi isn’t really that surprised, but still. The team from Nekoma, which Kiyoko-san said the Karasuno boys had already played against before, is looking for Hinata and Kageyama.

Yachi hopes their exams went well, and hopes they arrive soon. Yachi can’t help but think the two are probably vibrating with nerves of excitement right now. She knows they are just dying to play.

* * *

Kiyoko-san teaches her more rules and gives her tips on how to keep her focus on the game while taking notes of literally _everything_. It’s challenging for Yachi to still remain meticulous with her notes given the speed she needs to jot everything down. She can’t help but be amazed of Kiyoko-san. Her records were immaculate. Yachi almost cried when she first saw her notebook; it was glorious.

In the middle of the third or fifth match, Yachi forgets which, Hinata and Kageyama arrive, followed by a tall woman with blonde hair who she guessed is Tanaka’s older sister. They did look alike. Yachi grins at the two first years and she asks Hinata how the exams went. He says it went well, and Yachi does hope so, before he and the first year setter are put into the game.

Karasuno’s momentum begins with the first spike Hinata scores. Yachi jots it with a proud grin on her face, one that never left even if they lost every game that first day.

* * *

 After dinner, everyone is advised that the showers are available for everyone to use until nine in the evening. Most of the boys had showered already, and Yachi asks Kiyoko if she could accompany the girl. Of course, Yachi omitted her thoughts of possible kidnappers or stalkers in her request.

“Sure, I’d like to shower too, anyway,” Kiyoko-san says. Eri went with them. They don’t take long; after half an hour, they are already back in their room, getting ready to sleep. Kaori turns off the light just as Yachi slips under the sheets, and she almost screams when she feels a hand on hers.

“Sorry, Yachan,” Kiyoko whispers, laughter evident in her voice. Yachi relaxes, but she is now hyper-aware of Kiyoko’s presence beside her. She stares at the ceiling with wide eyes. The room isn’t completely dark; the moon is bright out and it shines a faint light into the room.

“Are those pandas on your pyjamas?” Yachi hears Kiyoko ask. Yachi says a soft yes.

“I like pandas.”

Yachi smiles at the admission. “I hope you have panda dreams, Kiyoko-san,” she says softly.

“Good night, Yachan.”

* * *

Yachi wakes up from the distant sound of a phone alarm from somewhere in the room. With her eyes closed, she could only feel a weight over her stomach, like an arm draped over it, and she blinks her eyes open to see Kiyoko-san. It’s _Kiyoko-san’s_ arm over her stomach. The blankets pool on their legs, and Yachi shivers from the cool morning air. Kiyoko-san mumbles something inaudible and Yachi stiffens. The alarm keeps going, until Yachi hears a groan and it’s finally turned off.

“K-Kiyoko-san?” Yachi tries. It takes a moment, but she’s able to watch the girl’s eyelids flutter open. Sleep laced her grey eyes, and Yachi swears she sees the realisation sink in them. Too soon, the warmth is gone, and Kiyoko-san is already sitting up.

“O-Oh, s-sorry, Hitoka-chan,” she instantly apologises. Yachi sits up as well and shakes her head. She doesn’t fail to notice Kiyoko-san’s bed hair, and really, aren’t mornings supposed to be the ugliest time of the day for people? How in the world does Kiyoko-san manage to look so _flawless_?

“I don’t— It’s okay, Kiyoko-san,” Yachi assures with a small grin. “I don’t mind. You did say you were a hogger. You didn’t say you were a cuddler too,” she tries to joke, even as her own cheeks tint pink. She doesn’t know what drove her to say that, but her senior’s answering chuckle definitely didn’t make her regret it.

At one of the practice matches, Kiyoko saves Yachi from yet another hurtling ball. Kaori had been so amazed, and Yukie says it’s a skill a manager just _has_ to pick up. It’s helpful that Kiyoko has quick reflexes, she adds, and the girl with glasses admits she had a sport before.

Yachi becomes curious. At the lunch table with the managers, she offers Kiyoko-san her orange juice and apple as thank you for saving her yet again from a bruise or possible broken arm or rib or two, and when her senior says it wasn't a big deal, she asks her instead about her previous sport.

“Track and field, hurdles. In junior high,” she answers. Mako and Eri seem impressed. Yachi, definitely.

“So what made you join the volleyball team as a manager?” Yukie asks as she wolfs down her rice bowl. Kiyoko says she needed a change of environment, but Yachi feels like it’s not the real story.

“The current captain asked me to be manager when we were in first year,” Kiyoko continues. Yachi feels a flare of something akin to jealousy at that, but she doesn’t say anything. What could she say anyway? She’s just glad Kiyoko-san is manager now, and she’s here with Yachi.

That night, before they sleep, Kiyoko notes little paw prints on Yachi’s pyjamas. Kaori had asked about them earlier, after they got out of the shower, but her question doesn’t make her feel as warm as Kiyoko-san's observations.

* * *

 Yachi wakes up the next day to find Kiyoko-san already folding her blanket. She greets Yachi good morning, and the blonde replies with a smile, even if she feels a little disappointed, maybe, that she didn’t get to watch Kiyoko-san wake up, or feel her arm around her protectively again, or—

This _is what creepy stalkers think about, Hitoka Yachi,_ she tells herself as she gets up to prepare for the day.

There is another match going on, between Karasuno and Fukurodani. Their team is obviously having fun, learning and all that, but Yachi can’t help but feel worried. They’re the team who’s taken the brunt of the penalties, and really, it’s a relief the managers don’t have to do those with them because Yachi would probably be a dead body by now.

They lose said match, and they had to run up a very steep-looking hill. Hinata runs first, with speed Yachi doesn’t know where Hinata gets.

One thing the team has certainly improved on this training is their stamina, that’s for sure.

* * *

 Come the third morning, Yachi wakes up with Kiyoko-san cuddled up to her. She is warm, a stark difference to the cold air. It's still dim in the room, which means it’s too early for Yachi to wake up, so she settles into the warmth and falls asleep again.

She wakes up from Kiyoko-san’s voice telling her it’s time to get moving.

* * *

 

It’s on the fourth morning, when Yachi wakes up to Kiyoko-san already folding her blankets, that the blonde notices the taller girl’s morning routine. Kiyoko-san would put on her glasses, tie her hair in a loose ponytail, then fold her blanket into a neat rectangle Yachi is sure to pass the highest standards. She’d get the purse where she keeps her toiletries and invite the girls to the shower room, where they’d freshen up and change.

Kiyoko-san would comb her hair, wipe her glasses, then wait patiently with everyone else for Eri to finish, since she’s always the last to.

Yachi isn’t sure if the said routine carries on when Kiyoko-san was at home. Either way, she feels a little more like a stalker.

* * *

 During the last day, the coaches sponsor barbecue for all the teams who participated. Everyone seems happy about it. The managers help serve the food around, and Yachi couldn’t help but feel, well, _afraid_ for her life, with all the tall male strangers surrounding her. She wonders which of them will be the last face she sees when she bids the world goodbye.

She survives her task, with much effort, and she settles in with Kaori and Yukie, who is stuffing herself with all the barbecue she can munch on. The rest of the managers join them and they eat, casually observing the boys who for the past week had done nothing but try to evolve themselves. Kaori talks proudly of Fukurodani’s ace, and Yachi looks to where Hinata and Kageyama stood. Their powerful weapon, and if Yachi is to see this team battle it out until she graduates, she’s sure she’ll witness Hinata be the ace he dreams to be.

“We have our own ace,” Kiyoko says. Yachi looks at her senior, who is looking at someone else, and she follows her line of sight to Asahi.

There it is again, the pang on her chest. Yachi’s sure it’s jealousy now.

* * *

 They say goodbye to their new friends, the boys vowing to see Nekoma on national stage soon enough. Yachi is proud of them. Even just after a week of training, she knows the team has grown. Not by much, but it’s a start.

They will keep getting better, Yachi knows. They’re on the road to nationals, back to Tokyo, she thinks, as they leave the city.

* * *

 As the bus speeds down the expressway, Yachi feels sleep creep in. She tries to blink it away but fails. Her head falls onto Kiyoko’s shoulder. She hears her faint chuckle and feels Kiyoko-san wrap an arm around her.

Sleep claims her then, as she’s nestled in warmth.

* * *

 It’s almost dark when they arrive at Karasuno. Takeda-sensei thanks them for their hardwork and lets them go, but Coach Ukai tells them to stay for a bit.

“I’m proud of all of you,” he starts, and there’s silence. “I know we’re only starting to refine our strengths as a team, but heck, I’m going to say it.” He pauses for effect and smirks. “We’re going to Nationals.” The boys cheer at that, and Yachi doesn’t realise she’s cheering with them until she feels the rush on her head, the heat in her chest. She wonders if this is what passion feels like.

The boys head home in groups. Yachi approaches Kiyoko-san to ask if she has someone pick her up and when she says no, the blonde offers to walk home with her. They walk home in silence, for the most part, until Kiyoko-san asks Yachi what her plans are for the summer that doesn’t involve volleyball.

“Oh. I’m working on my photography right now,” Yachi shyly admits. “How about you?"

“Really? That’s amazing,” Kiyoko replies, a grin on her face. “I have a list of books I need to finish reading, and well, maybe reviewing for college entrance exams.”

College, Yachi echoes in her head. Right. Kiyoko-san is graduating. After the Spring cup, she’ll be off to some university, and Yachi will be left alone to manage the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team. All on her own.

Kiyoko chuckles, and Yachi turns to her. “I can almost hear what you’re thinking, Yachan.” She puts her hand on Yachi’s shoulder and squeezes. “I told you. I’ll be with you all the way, alright? I’m not going to let you go until you’re ready,” Kiyoko-san promises.

Yachi smiles at her, and they part ways with a good night to each other.

* * *

Yachi lies awake in bed. She looks at the clock on her bedside. It’s past 10:30PM. She heard her mom come home half an hour ago, told her a condensed version of her week in twenty minutes and promised her she’d update her more the next day, but she lies in bed, unable to sleep. She doesn’t know if it’s because of the different bed—although she didn’t really have this problem when she slept on a futon—or if it’s because she’s alone tonight. She sighs heavily. Maybe it’s because of that. She’s been used to company the past few days and nights. Yachi hasn’t really had a close friend, mostly because of her paranoia. The victims in movies almost always get dragged into hell by their closest friends, and Yachi didn’t really want that to happen. So she just needs a little time to adjust from being far from her new close friends, like Kaori the manager, Hinata. Kiyoko-san.

She starts counting to fifty just to lull herself to sleep.

At twenty eight, her phone beeps. Yachi blinks to adjust her eyes to the light before she gets her phone. She smiles at the message from Kiyoko-san.

 _It’s kind of weird that you’re not beside me tonight. :?_ , it reads. Yachi chuckles at the use of emoji, bites her lip at what Kiyoko-san means. It takes her a few minutes to type up a reply that didn’t seem like she’s desperate to know if Kiyoko-san missed her. Maybe Kiyoko-san sent that text to the rest of her _friends_ too.

 _:) I’m sure you have a pillow you’ll be cuddling when you wake up tomorrow morning._ Yachi worries her bottom lip between her teeth as she waits for a reply. It comes in forty one seconds after.

_uwu Good night, Yachan._

_Good night, Kiyoko-san,_ , she quickly replies. There’s no reply after three minutes, and Yachi finds herself falling asleep.

When she wakes up the next day, there’s a message from Kiyoko-san from last night.

_I wish you’d call me just Kiyoko. :)_

Yachi smiles to herself at that.

_Good morning! See you later, just Kiyoko. :P_

A good morning, indeed.


	4. they long to be close to you (just like me)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little tension between Yachi and her co-manager.

_Hitoka-chan. :) Can I ask you for something?_

Yachi blinks down at her phone. She’s halfway through wolfing down her breakfast when Kiyoko-san texted. She checks the time. She has half an hour before she has to be at the gym for practice, even though Kiyoko-san insisted she can just attend in the afternoon. She still hates mornings, hates waking up early in the morning even more, but she’s long told herself that she is committed to this team just as everyone else is.

 _Good morning, Kiyoko-san. What is it? :)_ , she replies.

One reason the mornings have been much more bearable is her co-manager, that Yachi could at least safely say. Kiyoko-san would always wait for her at the convenience store and they’d walk together to school. Noya-san had asked her how it felt, walking with Kiyoko-san everyday. She hadn’t known how to answer it.

It felt…nice, of course, to have company. And Kiyoko-san is a wonderful friend. She’d tell Yachi about the books she read over the summer break, and she’d listen to Yachi’s little stories about her photography and drawing lessons. They have grown close, Yachi thinks, even if she just bases it on the number of questions Noya and Tanaka ask about the girl with glasses every single day.

“What animals does she like?” Pandas. And cats, she thinks.

“Does she like to read?” Does Hinata like volleyball?

“What’s her favourite book?” The Outsiders by Susan Hinton.

“What’s she reading right now?” Anna Karenina, but she’ll probably finish that in two days, then maybe she’d move on to the Neil Gaiman book she got last week from a thrift shop.

“Does she like someone?”

Ah. That question, she doesn’t have an answer to.

She’d love to get one, though, but she can’t tell anyone that. She’s just…curious, is all. What type of person does Kiyoko-san like? Someone who reads as much as she does? Someone who's into sports perhaps, or the arts, or someone who's loud to compliment her softness?

She’s just curious. Perhaps.

Her phone beeps as she drinks her orange juice.

 _It’s more of a favour, actually._  Yachi blinks at that. A favour? Before she could type a reply, another message comes in.

_Can you make me some of your hot chocolate?_

_I know it’s random but I can, you know, pay for it. And it doesn’t have to be this morning._

_I suddenly had a craving for hot chocolate and I remembered the one you made before._

Yachi could only stare at the series of messages. Kiyoko-san…is requesting her to make hot chocolate? She blinks again. Kiyoko-san actually remembers that time she made her something. She bites her lip, re-reading the sentences again in case she didn’t really understand the first time. Her phone beeps again.

_Is that a no?_

She yelps when she realises she hasn’t replied yet, so she types quickly and sends the text without second thought.

_It’s no problem. I’ll make some right now. :)_

With that, she takes out a pan and her ingredients before whipping out her yellow faded apron and putting it on, in case she trips and manages to get _something_ on her uniform. She turns on the stove and hears her phone beep again.

_If it’s not too much trouble?_

_Thank you, Hitoka-chan. You’re a lifesaver. uvu_

Yachi smiles at that. She replies that it’s not really trouble, and she tells Kiyoko-san that she’ll see her at the convenience store.

_See you! :)_

* * *

Kiyoko-san is leaning against a wall, bouncing her left foot against the concrete in what seems like a nervous tick, when Yachi meets up with her at the convenience store. The blonde walks up to her. She greets her good morning, a smile on her face, the thermos of hot chocolate in her hand.

“Good morning, Yachan,” Kiyoko greets back cheerily, the smile on her face as bright as the morning sun as she gratefully accepts the thermos. They walk to school, Yachi’s hands nervously tugging on the straps of her backpack as she curiously eyes her senior, who seems...worried.

“Are you okay, Kiyoko-san?” She finally asks, when the third year is done taking her seventh sip of hot chocolate. Kiyoko hums questioningly and turns to Yachi, but after a few seconds lets out a resigned sigh.

“The Spring Cup starts in a few days,” she says softly. Yachi’s lips part in realisation as she remembers. The road to nationals.

“Are you nervous?” Yachi inquires. Now that she’s thinking of it, she feels a wave of excitement laced with dread. The team has done nothing but practice and become better during the summer break after the Tokyo games. They started practicing two hours a day since classes started again, and sometimes even on weekends, which really isn’t ideal for Yachi, but she isn’t going to complain.

They worked hard. They have been working hard. But surely, all the other teams have been, too.

“Kind of,” Kiyoko-san answers. She bites on her lip as she screws the cap back on the thermos and shrugs. “It’s our— _their_  last year to try and go to Nationals, you know,” she adds softly. Yachi furrows her eyebrows at how her senior easily detracted _our_  like she’s not part of the team, but doesn’t say anything. Kiyoko is silent for a few moments, seemingly struggling with words, and Yachi waits patiently.

“It’s their last year, and I can’t seem to do anything for them.”

Yachi stops walking at that. “I’m sorry, what?”

Kiyoko falters in her steps and she looks at the blonde who shakes her head.

“You inspire the team, Kiyoko-san,” Yachi says pointedly when Kiyoko doesn’t speak, and if the tall girl is offended or disrespected by how Yachi said her words, she doesn’t show it. Instead, she just blinks owlishly behind her glasses, then smiles.

“That doesn’t help them win games, but thank you, Yachan.”

Yachi’s jaw drops at that. Is she serious? The blonde clenches her fists in frustration. She thinks her brain short-circuited for a bit trying to think of _something_  to say to _that_ , but she comes up with nothing, could only open and close her mouth like a fish out of water.

" _What?_ , she finally shrieks, her arms flailing by her sides. Kiyoko raises an eyebrow at her.

“What?” The dark-haired girl echoes. Yachi huffs.

“You can’t possibly think you contribute nothing to the team,” she says incredulously. Kiyoko diverts her gaze and Yachi gasps in disbelief. She shakes her head and starts walking again.

“I’ve only been in the team in a short while but I’ve seen just how  _much_  you give to the team,” the blonde insists. She hopes her senior is listening. “I’ve heard the boys talk about how much you inspire them. Sure, you aren’t on the court, but you _do_  bring so much to the team.” Yachi sighs. Suddenly, she just feels tired and god, she really hates mornings. How do people survive the rest of the day? Her voice drops to a whisper. “I don’t know how or why you can think otherwise but frankly, it’s disquieting.”

 _Especially for me,_  she thinks.

If she is being honest, what Kiyoko-san said hurt. All this time, she’d looked up to Kiyoko-san when it came to this manager thing. Yachi has been pretty much clueless about the whole shebang, but she follows by example. Take care of the logistical, administrative and minor medical needs of the team, take notes during practice and matches, help out during practice, and support, cheer, support, yell, support. Managers devote just as much time and effort as each of the players, and even if they don’t play on the court, even if they don’t score the winning spike or block, they’re still part of the team, still part of the reason the team wins.

Right?

Yachi thinks so. Would like to think so.

And yet… Kiyoko-san doesn’t think she contributes to the team.

Selfishly, Yachi drifts off to the thought of what if—what if she ends up feeling like Kiyoko-san? That after thinking she’s found her place in this team, she’ll end up feeling purposeless, like she’s achieved nothing? She worries her bottom lip between her teeth. One glance at Kiyoko-san though, who seems to be lost in her own thoughts, and Yachi throws her own selfish ones out the window and sighs heavily. They’re just arriving at school grounds, and Yachi briefly wonders if the heaviness of their conversation made them drag their feet to their destination. She checks her watch and sees it’s only five minutes to seven.

Theory of relativity then.

Her heart aches the longer she looks at her fellow manager. Yachi _knows_  she’s thinking about what she had said, probably arguing with herself as well like what Yachi is doing.

But Kiyoko-san is _wrong_ , though. She’s been with the team every step of the way for all of three years now, and that commitment isn’t nothing. Yachi knows what nothing is, because she literally hasn’t achieved anything yet _ever_ , and Kiyoko-san’s contribution to the team _isn’t_  nothing. That’s why she can’t let the other girl think that, at all.

“You have to realise that this team wouldn’t be the team it is today without you,” Yachi says with finality, her voice not more than a whisper, and she hopes Kiyoko-san heard.

They walk in silence the rest of the way to the gym. The boys seem to notice the tension, if the questioning glances thrown their way is to go by. Yachi just focuses on noting down things, although she really isn’t into it.

After practice, she walks to class with Hinata and Kageyama. The smaller boy asks if she’s okay. She lies and says she just isn’t feeling well but thanks Hinata for caring.

“Of course,” Hinata says. “You’re our manager and our friend. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you.” The orange-haired boy grins, and Yachi remembers what Kiyoko-san said.

“What do you think does a manager do, Hinata?” She asks suddenly. Hinata looks confused.

“Eh? Uh, you know. Manage,” he replies, and Kageyama hits the back of his head and mutters _idiot_. Hinata glares at the taller boy but looks back at Yachi with the same grin from earlier. “You do the things we can’t do, worry about everything else to make us focus on volleyball so we can win.” He pumps his fist in the air. “And we’re going to win, Yachi-san, you know why?”

Yachi shakes her head, although she knows it’s probably a rhetorical question. Hinata stops in front of her, his face full of determination much like when he’s on the court. “Because it’s our dream, and because we don’t want your or Shimizu-senpai’s efforts to go to waste.”

Kageyama nods at that. Yachi offers the two boys a watery smile, and Hinata seems worried again, but she assures him she’s alright. The bell rings then and the three hurry to class.

Yachi’s a little distracted during class, too. She barely touched her lunch. She thinks about what Hinata said and she's a little worried—okay, lie, a lot worried—about Kiyoko-san. Is she okay? Did Yachi say too much? What if they’re not friends anymore after what she said? What if Kiyoko-san sends her fan club after Yachi? She may never see the light of day again.

She doesn’t have answers to those questions, too, but at least she can try to get answers for those later at practice.

She hopes Kiyoko-san isn’t mad at her.

* * *

When she arrives at the gym, the boys have only started to warm up. Sugawara is leading Daichi, Asahi and Noya’s stretches, while the rest of the team is jogging around the court. Yachi sees Kiyoko-san rolling the volleyball cart from the storage room. Tanaka sees the first year and slows his jog when he’s in front of her.

“Yachi-san, do you know if Kiyoko-san is alright?” The wing spiker asks as he shoots a glance to where the third year manager is. “She seems…quieter than usual.”

Yachi sneaks a look towards Kiyoko. She doesn’t know if she’s alright, but she thinks she knows why her fellow manager is quiet. Instead of answering though, she just shrugs. Tanaka-san stares at her for a second before continuing his jog. He isn't convinced, that much Yachi knows, but what can she say? If she even dares mention the earlier…incident, if she can call it that, Tanaka-san could get mad at her. He’ll probably spike a ball her way, gob smack on her face, and well, Kiyoko-san would probably not save her this time.

She shivers in fear as she walks to the scoreboard, sitting on one of the two chairs, with Kiyoko sitting on the other. Coach Ukai groups the team into two and practice begins at the whistle. Yachi bites her lip so she doesn’t end up looking at Kiyoko-san, so she just focuses on other things—like how high Hinata jumps, how scarily accurate Kageyama’s tosses are, how powerful Tsuki’s blocks and Asahi-san’s spikes are, how noisy everyone else’s shoes are on the court—until the end of practice.

It feels awkward, just sitting there, scribbling away and occasionally flipping the scoreboard, in complete silence. Every single practice before today, Kiyoko-san and Yachi would have conversations. When Yachi was new, Kiyoko-san would casually tell her all about volleyball and about its rules, why that block gave a score to the first team and not the other, what that certain move is called, what a libero does. When the first year got the ropes of almost everything, they’d have a live commentary. Kiyoko had her practice her knowledge of the game by having her identify the type of attack made or who scores after that certain block. Sometimes she’d randomly say a rule and ask Yachi if it’s true or false. Sometimes they’d just sit there and score until Yachi asks something and Kiyoko-san would answer in long sentences no one else in the team but Yachi is able to hear.

Is it bad that she’s not really used to this not talking thing?

Yachi doesn’t like it one bit. She likes it so much better when Kiyoko-san was talkative, when she would talk to and joke around with no one else _but Yachi_. Tanaka-san and Noya-san might steal in a comment or a question or two and Kiyoko-san might say something to Asahi-san or Hinata, but she would only ever speak more than five words to Yachi. She likes it better like that, and really, despite the yells of _one touch!_  and _mine!_  and the sound of the ball bouncing on every single surface, the silence between them is just plain…deafening.

When practice is over, she mentally prepares herself into talking to Kiyoko-san. She’ll apologise for what she said earlier, ask for Kiyoko-san’s forgiveness. Maybe ask if she can still possibly cancel her very possible order to the possibly ten or more volunteer hitmen who have Yachi’s photograph.

Hinata helps her collect the volleyballs and put them in the cart. Kiyoko-san removes the net with Sugawara-san, and the rest of the boys sweep and mop the floor. Coach Ukai thanks everyone for a hardworking day and sends them home. Hinata asks if she wanted to walk to the front of the school, but Yachi politely declines. The boy leaves with Kageyama, and the blonde makes her way to the changing room alone.

She has her t-shirt stuck around her head on her hair clip. She just wants to change back to her school uniform so she can try and go talk to Kiyoko-san already. She squirms blindly, trying to pull her shirt off, when she hears the door open. She panics and tries to hurry and it really doesn’t work because her shirt doesn’t budge, and  _crap_ , she’s really vulnerable right now and she can’t see anything and she hears footsteps and oh, no, is this where she dies?

“Yachi?”

“Please don’t hurt me,” the blonde whimpers as she slumps, her shirt and arms wrapped around her head. She tries to look for the source of the disembodied voice but hears a soft chuckle instead.

“What happened?” She hears the voice speak again. Yachi sighs in relief when she realises who it is, although at the realisation, she feels herself flare up.

“Um, I, I’m,” she stutters, and then she feels Kiyoko-san help her tug her shirt off. When she’s finally free, she’s face to face with her smiling senior who’s holding her damp shirt, and Yachi turns red.

“T-th-thank y-you!” She squeaks, immediately grabbing the damp shirt from Kiyoko because the struggle had made her sweat and it’s just disgusting, and quickly tries to put on her school uniform back, all the while trying to ignore Kiyoko-san watching her.

Yachi is sure she’s still red and she didn’t think she could turn redder, until Kiyoko started changing back to her uniform too, and all Yachi could do is turn around and look at everything else but the girl.

This is probably Kiyoko-san trying to kill her, really. No hitmen needed, just her.

She’s counting the lockers for the second time when there’s a tap on her shoulders, and she turns to see Kiyoko-san all decent again, wearing a hesitant expression on her face. Yachi opens her mouth to speak but Kiyoko beats her to it.

“Would you mind if…” She trails off and bites her lip. “If I walk home with you?”

Yachi certainly didn’t expect that. She nods anyway.

They just stepped out of school when Kiyoko speaks again, her voice softer than Yachi has ever heard before and she strains her ears to listen.

“You know I used to be in track and field in junior high, right?” She asks as she glances at the first year. Yachi nods. Kiyoko smiles, although there’s sadness in it, Yachi could tell. “I told Yukie and the other girls that I became a volleyball team manager because I wanted a change of environment. It’s not a lie, but it’s not completely true either.”

Yachi remembers that. Remembers feeling like Kiyoko-san wasn’t telling the full story, remembers feeling _jealous_  when she said Daichi-san invited her to be manager.

“It’s…” A sigh. “I tried so hard, back then, to at least be good enough. It was junior year but everyone was already competitive because it means you could try to get into good high schools later on. But I couldn’t be good enough, no matter how hard I tried, because someone else jumps higher or runs faster or just _better_  in general and, well…” Kiyoko trails off and sighs again. "You know how you work so hard to achieve something, and then, one day, the drive to fulfill it is… it’s just gone?”

No, Yachi doesn’t know that. She hasn’t worked hard enough for something she really wanted, not yet, at least, but she could imagine the heartache of letting go. Kiyoko-san shrugs. “So I quit after junior high.”

Yachi clenches her fists around her backpack straps at that. Their walk home seems to be taking longer, much like their walk this morning, but she’s not in a hurry. She wishes she could stop time right there so she could listen to Kiyoko-san. So she does.

“The coming Spring Cup just reminds me of how the team worked so hard for it, is all,” she continues. Kiyoko’s gaze is on her shoes as she walks, but Yachi could only look at her. “They’ve worked so hard for it and they deserve it, but I just… I just didn’t think I had _anything_  to do with it. So I guess I am, in a way, a little disappointed in myself.” She looks at Yachi at that, stopping the words about the fall out of the blonde’s lips. “Because I don’t think I helped them out. I couldn’t help myself to be good enough in junior high, so I couldn’t have possibly helped them be this great.”

Kiyoko looks up in front of her and smiles, as if she’s remembering something, then sighs. Yachi couldn’t pinpoint what it means. It sounded heavy but filled with relief, and she bites her lower lip with the need to know, the need to defend her point from earlier this morning.

“Hinata said a manager worries about everything else so the team only has to worry about getting better and winning,” Yachi butts in. Kiyoko looks at her at that, a little surprised, and the blonde shrugs. "You’re the glue that keeps that little murder together, Kiyoko-san. Asahi-san said so,” she says firmly. "When you were in first year, you were one of the reasons they kept fighting.”

Kiyoko looks surprised at that. “Asahi said that?” Yachi nods eagerly. It was during their first weekend practice. Asahi-san was helping Yachi roll the scoreboard to the side of the court when they saw Kiyoko arrive. Asahi-san had smiled and said Kiyoko-san had been with them for all of three years, and that really, she’s what keeps them together—together as a team, for one, and together as in sane, especially during the past two years when failure had almost broken them down.

“She’s the rational part of this team, and really. I don’t think we could’ve survived this long without her.”

Yachi says exactly that to Kiyoko-san, even tries to imitate Asahi-san’s voice. The tall girl chuckles and shakes her head.

“When I came to Karasuno, all I really had planned is to focus on my studies,” Kiyoko continues. "So I did. And then, one day, there’s this boy carrying posters looking for anyone who hasn’t had a club yet. It was Daichi.” She chuckles. Yachi smiles too, because it sounds all-too familiar. “He invited me to try out and be their manager. At first I said no, because what do I know about volleyball? But Daichi had insisted. He told me I should at least try and watch a practice match. So I did. I got curious, at first. And, as you know, all you need is curiosity.” They look at each other and share a smile, like they had a secret, and Kiyoko-san chuckles.

“I kept coming back, because I really didn’t have any after-school activity. I casually became the manager, I guess. Anyway,” she sighs and laughs softly. “I think I’m just prolonging this rant.”

Yachi certainly didn’t mind.

“What you said earlier today. It made me remember something a former member told me sometime last year.” Kiyoko stops walking and looks up at the sky. “We lost at the first preliminary game for Interhigh. It was his third year. After the game though, he thanked me for being there, despite the team being, you know, just _us_. The players and me, no coach, no support from the school, or anything. At the time, I was kind of confused what he meant because, you know, I’m the manager. I’m supposed to be there.”

Kiyoko looks at Yachi then. “You made me remember how I wanted to be there with them then and to be with them now. To support them. Slowly but surely, they stopped being just other people I occasionally spent my free time after school with. They accepted me as their teammate and...” She looks away and sighs again. “I guess, my point is, thank you. For reminding me that I _am_  part of the team. Sometimes I do forget, for stupid reasons.”

Yachi has the urge to pull Kiyoko-san into a hug, maybe even cry a little, but she tries to contain herself. Her eyes sting a bit from the effort of keeping her tears at bay. She bounces on the balls of her feet and smiles at her senior.

“I don't think it's stupid. But I’ll remind you as often as you need,” she promises. They resume walking, the air between them feeling at least a little lighter compared to before. “And the team will, too, although I don’t think they have the courage to tell you how much you mean to them because I think you kind of intimidate them, so I’ll have to tell you what they say.”

Kiyoko grins at that. Yachi chuckles. It’s true, though, that Kiyoko-san does intimidate some of the boys—although if Yachi thinks about it, it’s because they admire her so much—and that’s why they only talk to Yachi, most of the time.

"It’s really worrisome if you forget, because I feel lost and then what am I supposed to do?” Yachi jokes, although kind of means it. Kiyoko-san had been in the team longer than Yachi has, and if she thinks the whole thing is senseless, then what’s the point?

Kiyoko smiles and reaches out to squeeze Yachi’s shoulder. “Sorry. I guess I’m more anxious about Spring Cup than I thought.” Yachi understands. She kind of feels the same way, and she guesses there is more uneasiness in her fellow manager’s part because she has witnessed the past two years. "And, you know, sorry for rambling.”

Yachi grins. “It’s okay. I guess we’re all kind of nervous. And I prefer the rambling much better than the quiet.”

The tall girl looks apologetic, but Yachi shakes her head. “I mean, you were probably just thinking about what I said, I guess?”

“I was preparing my speech,” Kiyoko retorts. "It was a bit shorter in my head, but I guess I got sidetracked.”They share a laugh and let a few silent moments pass.

“Wow,” Kiyoko exhales. "I feel like I just bared my soul and now you know my deepest secret.”

Yachi blinks at her. “Oh,” she breathes out. She hadn’t really noticed. She’s not used to these types of conversations, never having once had them with someone before. She realises that she knows more about Kiyoko-san now, and guesses it is kind of a soul-baring experience. She sees the lights of the convenience store at the intersection, signalling that their nightly walk together is about to end.

“Well,” she starts with a sigh. "I’m secretly afraid of beaches and swimming, and not-so-secretly afraid of clowns.” She thinks she should be worried about saying it out loud because someone might use it against her, perhaps even Kiyoko-san, but she knows that won’t be the case. She actually feels a little comfortable sharing her fear, surprisingly, to someone she’s becoming closer with.

Kiyoko-san laughs at that. “Aren’t we all?”

Yachi grins at her senior. The taller girl locks eyes with her, and even with the low light in the street, the blonde notices her stormy grey eyes.

“Thank you though,” Kiyoko-san says. "For… What you said. I feel better now, somehow.”

The blonde dismisses her easily. “It’s nothing, Kiyoko-san,” she explains. “I was just being honest. My paranoia is probably just rubbing off on you.” Yachi thinks it’s possible, and she hopes it’s not true, but she also wishes that Kiyoko-san’s stint of self-doubt is just that—paranoia.

Kiyoko grins. “Did Asahi really say the glue thing?”

There’s that flare of jealousy again, in her chest, and it stings a lot more this time, but she nods and manages to smile. “And I didn’t make up what Hinata said. You really do inspire the team, and you inspire me to be the best manager I can be for them.”

They finally reach the intersection. Yachi readies herself to say goodbye but instead, Kiyoko-san pulls her in a hug, one that reminds the blonde of Tokyo and cold mornings in warm arms. She breathes in the scent of her senpai's hair and awkwardly wraps her arms around the taller girl.

 _So this is how a hug with a person not your mother feels like,_  she thinks, and, _she’s so warm_.

“Thank you, Yachan,” Kiyoko whispers. Her voice is breathy and comforting. Yachi hums and assures her that it’s nothing.

It’s not nothing, though, not to Yachi. She feels like she’s accomplished something today.

They bid each other goodnight and go their separate ways, though Yachi still feels Kiyoko’s arms around her.

* * *

That night, before Yachi goes to sleep, she texts Kiyoko.

_If I bring more hot chocolate tomorrow, is that alright?_

It takes two minutes for the reply to come in.

_It's perfect._

 


	5. we should let it burn (if it is born in flames)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The managers’ preparations for the Spring Cup. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay on the update! Real life has been a ride lately. Hope this is okay though. I’ll update again real soon. :) Happy reading, and please let me know what you think.

Yachi wakes up at six in the morning that Tuesday to a protesting stomach.

 _Must be because I skipped dinner because I went to sleep early,_ she thinks, and also _my stomach is going to digest itself and I’m going to bleed internally and die in pain._

She forgoes her usual routine of showering first and drags her sleepy form downstairs to make herself some breakfast. She literally screams when she finds her mom on the dining table, typing away on her laptop. There are a handful of beer bottles on the table, a stack of papers, and a steaming mug of what the younger girl assumes as black coffee. 

“Don’t scream. Everyone else is still asleep,” her mother grumbles, still focused on her laptop.

“Am I dead? Or probably still dreaming?” She asks out loud as she stares at her mom, who looks up from her laptop and over her glasses. She’s never home before Yachi falls asleep at night, and she’s never up in the mornings, especially _this_ early.

One of the perks of having your own company, Yachi supposes, is that your working hours are flexible. It’s why her mom makes the most out of staying in bed in the mornings, then stays late into the night—in that rather stylish and spacious office, if she is to describe it—to make up for the hours. If Yachi is being honest though, she dislikes that her mother can’t seem to sync her clock with the rest of everyone in the normal world, where Yachi currently belongs.

She’s _not_ complaining though. She’s not. She just hopes she sees her mother more often, because there are so many things she wants to tell her. Like how she’s been doing on her photography classes or how her art teacher says she has a lot of potential. She’s texted her mother just as much, but she’s either too busy or gets too many messages that Yachi’s just stay unread.

Now she’s here, though. Yachi is pleased, of course, but also, well, a little bit more than surprised.

“Shut up,” Madoka drawls. She stops typing and takes a sip of her coffee. “If you’re going to have cereal, you’ll have to open a new box of milk. I kind of drank all of it earlier.” 

The younger blonde blinks at her mother and points at the beer bottles on the table. Madoka shrugs. “Long night and I needed to stay awake,” she explains, to which Yachi just nods. She grabs a box of her favorite cereal—corn flakes that are too sweet for her mother’s taste—and pours some in a bowl before dumping fresh milk from a new carton on it.

“What time did you get home?” Yachi asks as she slides on the seat beside her mom. She clears the beer bottles off the table so she could have some space to eat. 

“A little before one in the morning. Had to finish some rush designs. And now,” Madoka sighs and gestures to her laptop. “The presentation for said designs. I swear to god, I should hire someone who can do this shi—” The older woman grins and looks at Yachi. “Sorry, _things,_ for me."

The girl shrugs as she chews her cereal. Madoka sips her coffee again, grimaces at the now cold, bitter liquid, and continues to work.

“You can work for me if you have free time,” she says easily, looking at Yachi through the corner of her eyes. “I mean, I already give you food and a place to stay at for free, so you might as well,” she says with a small laugh.

The young blonde rolls her eyes at her mother’s joke but chuckles anyway. “Unfortunately, I don’t have free time anymore.” She hums around a spoonful of cereal while her mother busies herself with the screen. She wonders if she remembers.

“Volleyball club?” Madoka asks, and Yachi smiles and nods. Her mother does remember. The older woman pauses her work and glances at her daughter with a smile.

“That sounds good,” she says, pride hinting her voice, and she pushes her glasses up as she looks at Yachi, all ears. “How’s it so far? After the practice games in Tokyo and all.”

Yachi’s smile grows wider. She hadn’t thought that her mother would be interested enough to ask more about the usual _are you happy with your club_ inquiry. It’s not related to design after all, not something that could hone her skills until she’s ready to work at Yachi Create.

Despite the infrequent times that she sees her mother, Yachi is content that she cares. She proceeds to tell her mom about the team’s progress after the summer camp. She tells her about the Spring High preliminaries coming up in less than a week—four days, since they have their first game on Saturday, if she remembers Takeda-sensei’s calendar properly—and how, she _just_ knows, that they’ll make it to Nationals, somehow.

Madoka asks about the orange-haired boy she remembers from the poster Yachi made before. The young girl tells her how much he’s grown as a player, and not just him, but each and every member of the team.

Her phone alarm goes off in the middle of her telling a shorter version of the last few days with the team working on smoothing out their new moves, signaling that she has to start working on lunch or she’d have to run to school.

She checks her phone to see a message from Kiyoko-san, asking if they’re going to walk to school together.

As if Yachi could ever say no to that. She’d always say yes, of course, but she’s glad Kiyoko-san asks because she didn’t want to assume and be left waiting for hours at the convenience store. If she was in Kiyoko-san’s shoes, she’d always ask, for fear of exactly _that._

“Shimizu Kiyoko,” her mother says, and Yachi turns to her with a blush when she sees her reading over her shoulder. “That’s your fellow manager, right?”

Yachi nods, actually surprised that her mother remembers her too; the first time she told her mother about Kiyoko-san, it was two nights after her scene at the train station and she told her how she came about deciding to be the boys’ volleyball team’s manager.

Yachi replies to Kiyoko-san with _yes_ , if Kiyoko didn’t mind, and that she’d meet her at the convenience store at fifteen to seven.

The girl also tells her mother about what happened with Kiyoko-san the day before while she simultaneously prepares lunch and hot chocolate. She’s making vegetable stir fry, the ingredients she had chopped up the night before she crept into bed. Her mom doesn’t reply back, just hums at appropriate places as she types away on her laptop. Yachi appreciates it though, because at least her mom is _here_ to listen.

She’s transferring the vegetables to her lunch box when she pauses her story and looks up at her mom.

“It kind of felt weird, actually,” she says softly, voice laced with what she thinks is realization. “That I was comforting someone else. I’m usually the one who needs it.” She chuckles to herself. She’s always been the one to need reassurance about everything. More often than not, she’s the one to give it to herself, and in hindsight, and it might be the first time she’s dared console someone else.

Yachi cleans up after her mess when she’s doine. She gets everything ready for when she leaves, including the two flasks of hot chocolate.

“I’m going to freshen up and dress,” Yachi tells her mom. Madoka hums and sips her coffee before quickly getting up. The younger blonde is confused for a moment until her mother kneels in front of her and she’s enveloped in a warm, comforting hug.

“I’m proud of what you’re doing, Hitoka,” her mom says. Yachi grins and hugs her mother back tightly. “Keep it up. And as for Kiyoko.” Her mother pulls away and looks at Yachi. “I’m glad that you found a friend, and I’m glad you’re there for her.” Madoka tucks Yachi’s stray hair behind her ear, her voice turning shaky as she continues to speak. “You’re growing up so fast, Hitoka-chan.”

“Are you sure I’m not dead?” Yachi jokes, breaking the building tension between them. Her mother laughs and pats her head before sending her off to get ready.

Yachi finds their little moment weird, but she shrugs it off to her mother’s long day and prepares herself for school. She bids her mother goodbye with a hug and a kiss, and Madoka tells her she’ll try to be home early for dinner. The younger blonde doesn’t expect that much, but she’s glad her mom _tries._

She meets Kiyoko-san at the convenience store. The third year accepts the thermos of hot chocolate gratefully and takes a sip with a content sigh that makes Yachi smile.

Kiyoko-san tells her fellow manager random things she found out the night before while reading a fact book she discovered from her old stash of readings.

“Did you know there’s a planet covered in burning ice?” Kiyoko says. There is so much wonder in her voice and if Yachi looks up to see those stormy gray eyes, she knows she’d see the same wonder in them. She isn’t really surprised when she figures out that her senior is eternally curious, and she can’t help but return the enthusiasm.

“Amazing,” Yachi whispers, and really, it’s directed to Kiyoko and not the trivia she just shared. The third year grins, mirth dancing in her eyes.

Yachi doesn’t fail to notice.

 “And then there’s this blog I found which lists untranslatable words. I think the most memorable one is _b’shert,_ ” the third year continues, her thumb gently stroking the mole by her mouth. Yachi comes to realize it’s an adorable quirk which Kiyoko-san does when she’s trying to remember something. “It’s Yiddish for destiny. Or… when you seek for the person who’ll complement you and whom you’ll complement perfectly.” Then she grins at Yachi, who squeaks and blushes.

“W-what’s Yiddish?” Yachi asks, just to say _something._

“It’s the historical language of Ashkenazi Jews,” is the quick reply, and _wow,_ intelligence is sexy, Yachi thinks. “Do you think that’s a real thing? I mean, you know, a person that will complement you.”

Yachi blinks dumbly at that. She’s not sure if there’s a thing like that. She’s _fifteen,_ and most of the seeking she’s done in life is finding _something_ she’ll belong in—which, thankfully, she’s found already. That’s the extent of all she knows.

She could think about her mom, a relentless force to be reckoned with, and she wonders if her father complemented her. Did that mean her father—whom she hasn’t seen since she was four or five years old—is a gentle, mellow soul?

She hasn’t really thought about it.

“I’m not really sure,” she says with a shrug, to which Kiyoko chuckles.

“You probably think I’m silly.” Yachi shakes her head vigorously, immediately denying the allegation, which causes Kiyoko to laugh. “That’s alright. I think I’m silly. But I’d like to think there’s a person out there to complement everyone. You know, to balance people’s personalities and habits.”

“Like… A boyfriend?” Yachi blurts out with a furrow of her eyebrows.

The third year blushes and shrugs. “I don’t think a person who’ll complement you has to have a romantic link with you,” she mumbles.

The first year thinks long and hard about that, but she can’t really bring her head around the thought of destiny, or someone who’ll complement her. Kiyoko seems to notice and tells the blonde to not mind her.

Is that what Kiyoko-san looks for in a partner? Does that mean she’d like someone who would complement her?

She files her thoughts away for later contemplation when they reach the gym. Practice that morning went without a hitch. Hinata and Kageyama are sharpening their attacks. Noya-san, god bless his persistence, has managed to save each and every ball that tried to land on the floor. Yachi isn’t sure, but she thinks even Tsuki-kun is practicing his blocks. She tells Kiyoko, who seems to notice as well, but they don’t say anything.

Yachi is feeling pretty confident about the team, if she bases it on her notes. She can see _progress._

They’re cleaning up before morning classes start when Kiyoko-san approaches her. She’s holding a clean white folder with colorful post-its sticking out of it.

“Hitoka-chan, do you have a minute?” The taller manager opens the folder and Yachi sees a bunch of papers with notes, some handwritten in Kiyoko-san’s neat handwriting and some printed out. The blonde looks at the folder curiously then blushes when she realizes she didn’t really have the third year’s permission. Kiyoko chuckles at her reaction.

“That’s alright,” she says. “These are just some things I’m working on for the Spring Cup. I got to thinking about, you know, what we talked about yesterday, and this,” Kiyoko shakes the folder in her hands, “is something I came up with.”

“I thought you read through a fact book and a literary blog,” Yachi brings up with a shy grin.

“I did,” Kiyoko-san _smirks,_ “but I also did this.” She pulls out a paper with a diagram that Yachi realizes is the tournament chart. Her jaw drops at the notes beside each team name. She looks up at Kiyoko-san, who is grinning at her.

“I don’t know how far we’ll get into the competition,” the third year continues, glancing at the boys who are still bickering around as they change back to their school uniforms. “But I’d like to believe we’ll get far enough, and well, I’m hoping some countermeasure documents will help the boys in facing other teams we’ve yet to play against.”

Kiyoko-san hands Yachi the folder and shows her what she has worked on. There were a couple of pages with team names in bold at the top, like _Aobajōsai_ and _Date Tech_ , and some information on each team below. Yachi’s expression is that of wonder, and she admires the neat organization of the folder she is holding.

“Did you work on this all night?” She blurts out, and when she drags her eyes away from the pretty handiwork, she’s faced with Kiyoko-san’s pretty face, a shy smile on those lips.

“Not really. Because, you know, I read through a fact book and a literary blog,” she admits, pushing up her glasses before taking the folder from Yachi. “I just wanted to know if you could help me out?” She looks down and arranges the papers inside the folder. “We could just focus first on the teams that we’ll face for the Miyagi representative playoffs, and just—”

“Of course!” Yachi butts in. Kiyoko-san grins, a smile that’s much brighter than the sun at eight in the morning, that makes everything so much more colorful than the post-its that littered the folder the third year holds.

Sometimes, Yachi thinks the mornings could be bearable.

Scratch that. Mornings can be _great._

* * *

 Before practice that afternoon, Kiyoko talks to Yachi about how they’ll go about doing the work. They agree that they should both read through each of the teams’ information so they’re both familiar with them.

They divide the teams into two and Kiyoko listed out the things they’ll need to know: Team composition, full names of each member, their jersey numbers, position, how long they’ve been on the team, their individual strengths and weaknesses; the team’s usual strategy, their common offense and defense tactics, their collective strengths and weaknesses; the the team’s coaches and managers, if any, and their training plans.

Yachi points out that once they’ve identified all of that, they could probably talk to coach Ukai and even the boys on how to use their own strengths fully and work possible competitors’ weaknesses against them. Kiyoko grins proudly at that and scribbles down the blonde’s suggestion, just as coach Ukai blows the whistle.

“Yachan, what were you and Kiyoko-san talking about?” Hinata asks as they walk to the side of the court. Noya-san, who stands beside Hinata, nods along.

“Yeah, you seem pretty serious,” he mumbles. Yachi shakes her head and chuckles softly.

“It’s nothing to worry about. Just manager concerns,” she assures. The two seem satisfied with that answer. The orange-haired boy grins widely.

“Awesome. Thank you so much, Yachan,” he says, before running off to his team’s side with Noya-san. Yachi smiles at them and she walks to the scoreboard, where Kiyoko-san already sits. The third year smiles at her, too.

Yachi starts to think of how she’ll go about her first—technically—assignment. She wants to be thorough about her work, possibly impress Kiyoko-san, make herself useful for the team, convince Kiyoko-san that she _can_ actually be a good manager.

She’ll think about everything tonight. She focuses on the practice in front of her, notebook on her lap and pen on her hand, and mentally yells _yes_ when Hinata successfully spikes the ball past Tsukishima, much to the blond boy’s chagrin.

* * *

That night, Yachi starts researching on the first few teams Kiyoko-san had listed down for her. They have the first preliminaries to go through, then the main preliminaries, where they would get to face the bigger leagues from Miyagi.

The blonde manager jots down the things she and Kiyoko-san agreed they’d have to know about each team. She proceeds to read through information she found online, on sports websites, magazines and articles—there was a _lot_ on Aobajōsai and Shiratorizawa. Yachi almost skipped player information for the latter, because _sweet jellybeans,_ they had really scary-looking players.

She hears her mom come in at around eleven. Madoka asks what she’s doing up and she explains that she’s working on something for her club. They eat late dinner together, the second one for Yachi, and afterwards they go to their own rooms, Yachi to continue her work until early into the morning.

Yachi doesn’t realize she fell asleep until she wakes up to the painful brightness over her eyes. She slowly blinks her eyes open and sits up so quickly her head begins to spin. Too much brightness means it’s _way too late_ already. She gets off the bed and glances at her bedside clock. It’s already six thirty-seven in the morning.

She checks her phone and sees three missed calls and three text messages from Kiyoko-san.

 _Good morning, Yachi-san! I’ll see you later at 6:30? uwu_ at 5:45AM. Wow, Kiyoko-san must really be a morning person then. That or she gets ready quickly.

 _ _I’m on my way. Are you going to walk with me?_  _at 6:17AM. 

_Yachi? Is everything alright?_ at 6:20AM.

Then the missed calls at 6:25, 6:30, and 6:35.

Yachi dashes to the bathroom, phone in hand. She can’t meet Kiyoko-san anymore, but she has to run or she’s going to be late for morning practice. As she brushes her teeth, she types up a reply.

 _Jst woke up. Sorry!!! Wnt be able to meet you. Pls go ahead._ and hits send, mentally rolling her eyes at her typographical errors. She’ll have to excuse herself this time, and hope that Kiyoko-san isn’t mad at her. She speeds through her morning routine and pulls in clothes in record time.

She’s putting on her shoes, a sloppily-made sandwich in her mouth, when a reply from Kiyoko-san comes in. Checking that all her things are ready and she at least looks _presentable,_ she sprints out of the apartment and makes her way to school.

 _Are you okay?_ Reads Kiyoko-san’s text. She doesn’t reply but checks the time-stamp; it’s already eight minutes before seven, and even if she had better speed or stamina—which she didn’t have—she couldn’t really make it to school in that time.

She’s out of breath when she arrives at the gym, almost collapsing on the wooden floor as she pushes the door open. The clock on the wall says it’s 7:12AM. It still took her the same amount of time to get ready when she woke up at six in the morning, and she wonders why she decided to run.

She notices everyone staring at her and she freezes. Oh, right, because she didn’t want _this_ attention. Yachi runs to the bench on weak, jelly-like legs, to apologize to coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei.

“Please don’t fire me,” she says sincerely, bent at the waist in a bow, eyes closed and fists clenched on her sides. She just hears Takeda-sensei chuckle.

“It’s not a problem, Yachi-san. You can go help out Kiyoko-san with the scoring now,” the teacher says. The first year apologizes again before scurrying to the scoreboard, where Kiyoko-san sits.

“Yachi-san,” she greets the still panting girl, concern lacing her tone. Yachi is flushed and sweaty and overall just gross. She wishes no one had to see her like this, especially Kiyoko-san, but well, Yachi doesn’t usually get her way. She slumps on her seat, trying to dismiss her senior’s worried expression.

“I’m okay, Shimizu-senpai,” Yachi says between breathes. Kiyoko hands her a bottle of water which she gratefully accepts. She takes big gulps. Kiyoko glances back to the game, just in case.

“I just.. um, woke up late,” the blonde continues and smiles sheepishly. Kiyoko seems relieved by that.

“That’s good to hear. I thought something bad happened. You wouldn’t answer my calls.”

“Yeah, um,” Yachi scratches the back of her neck nervously. “I kind of slept through all my alarms, and… obviously, your calls, too.”

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” Daichi’s team scores and Kiyoko-san flips the scoreboard. It’s 19 to 18 now.

“I kind of stayed all night for the, um…” She plays with the hem of her skirt, eyes on the game in front of her. Hinata’s team scores as well, making the score 19 for both teams. Yachi flips the scoreboard with unsteady hands.

“The…?” Kiyoko urges. Yachi whispers, and her senior leans in, almost missing the point Daichi’s team scores again.

“I’m sorry?” Kiyoko asks, and Yachi flushes harder.

“I was researching on the competing teams,” the first year finally says. Kiyoko’s face dawns with realization and she frowns.

“I’m sorry,” the dark-girl haired offers, but Yachi shakes her head.

“It’s okay, Kiyoko-san,” she says with a comforting smile. “I stayed up because I wanted to.”

The third year nods at that. They focus back at the game when Hinata’s team yells as they score another point.

They’re all getting ready for class when Kiyoko walks up to Yachi. The third year is already dressed back to her school uniform and taps the smaller girl on her shoulder.

“Yachi-san,” she starts, as the two managers and the Karasuno power duo walk to their respective classrooms, following the rest of the team. “Since you woke up late, does that mean you don’t have lunch?”

“Oh, that was why you came in late, Yachan?” Hinata asks. Yachi chuckles nervously but nods. She barely had time to get her sandwich done, and really didn’t have enough time to ready the beef strips she marinated the night before.

Now that she thinks of it, it’s better if she cooks those tomorrow. The beef would be tastier. Or so she hopes.

“I guess I’ll just get something from the vending machine,” the blonde thinks out loud.

“Do you want to join me?” Kiyoko-san inquires. “We can, um, eat at the gym? My lunch might be more than enough for me so we can share. We can talk about the things you found out.”

Yachi looks up at her senior at the offer. Before she could say anything, Hinata pipes in.

“Eh? What are you going to talk about?” He asks. Kageyama mumbles something Yachi doesn’t catch. Kiyoko-san leans in and grins at the middle blocker though, and if she didn’t know any better, Yachi would find that smirk both threatening _and_ creepy.

“Just some manager things you shouldn’t worry about, Hinata-kun,” the third year whispers conspiratorially. Hinata’s eyes widen excitedly, obviously curious, but Kiyoko-san pulls back without another word and turns to Yachi. “So, Yachan?”

The blonde girl smiles at her senior and nods. “I’ll bring my notes.” Kiyoko-san grins at that and she bids the three first years a good day before heading off to her classroom.

“Yachan,” Hinata grumbles, “what is Kiyoko-san talking about?”

“Yeah,” Kageyama echoes, and Yachi stares at him for a moment before grinning.

“It’s a secret,” she says with as much mystery she can muster, and the two boys groan.  


“Is the gym open during lunch though?”

“Kiyoko-san has a key, you idiot.”

“I’m not an idiot!”

Sometimes, Yachi is worried that Hinata and Kageyama would end up fighting. She thinks it’s how the two of them work though, because on the court, they’re practically unstoppable.

Yachi wonders if this is what Kiyoko-san means about people complementing each other.

* * *

 

When lunch rolls around, Yachi makes her way to the gym with a bounce on her steps.  She passes by Kiyoko-san’s classroom—class 3 section 5—when she hears her name being called out.

“Yachi?” She hears from behind her. Yachi shrieks and turns around, her notebook up in defense. She finds Kiyoko-san, together with two other girls she doesn’t recognize, who are looking at her, puzzled smiles on their faces.

“K-Kiyoko-san!” The first year greets with a deep blush on her cheeks. “Are you on your way to the gym too?” The girl with glasses grins and nods, then introduces the two girls with her.

“This is Itsumi,” Kiyoko-san says, pointing to a girl with freckles and _really_ long brown hair to her left, “and Haruko,” pointing to the other girl with blue highlights on her dark hair.  “They’re my classmates. This is Hitoka-chan, my fellow volleyball club manager,” Kiyoko says to her companions, gesturing to Yachi.

“Oh, so you’re _that_ fellow manager,” Haruko says, looking at Yachi from head to toe. The first year shivers, feeling uneasy with new people around, especially with how Haruko looks at her, so she looks to Kiyoko-san for familiarity. Yachi is confused when she notices that her senior is blushing, but she can’t really confirm it.

“It’s nice to meet you, Itsumi-senpai, Haruko-senpai,” Yachi says. Kiyoko mumbles something that absolutely sounds like _these two don’t deserve to be your senpai,_ but instead tells her two friends that they will be going ahead. The pair nods, Haruko winking at Kiyoko before Itsumi drags her back inside their classroom. Yachi feels a little confused at that but doesn’t dwell on it.

“Excuse them,” Kiyoko-san says tiredly as they begin to walk to the gym. “They can get annoying sometimes.”

Yachi laughs softly and assures the third year that it’s alright. They stop at the vending machine near the gym where she gets two cartons of strawberry milk and a tuna sandwich. Kiyoko unlocks the gym and they sit on the floor, using one of the benches as a makeshift table. Yachi grins widely when Kiyoko uncovers her lunchbox, packed with brown rice, meat and potato stew, and cucumber salad.

“Wow,” Yachi says in amazement as she eyes the food. Her mouth literally waters at the sight. “That looks so good, Kiyoko-san.”

The third year takes out her chopsticks and offers them to Yachi. “You can try it out?” She says shyly. “I’m not that good of a cook, but you know, it’s edible.”

Yachi is not really surprised that Kiyoko-san cooks, but she shakes her head and hands profusely. “I-it’s alright! I wouldn’t want to impose.”

Kiyoko-san chuckles and picks up a piece of potato, bringing it to her mouth. “It’s not that bad,” she says after she swallows. Yachi blushes.

“I didn’t—I didn’t mean to offend your cooking skills, Kiyoko-san,” she swears, popping open her carton of strawberry milk. “I just didn’t want to eat your lunch before you do.”

The girl with glasses grins at that and offers the blonde the chopsticks again. Yachi grins back, says thank you and pops a piece of meat in her mouth.

 _Sweet jellybeans._ She moans as she chews, thankfully remembering to swallow before she begins to talk.

“You’re lying when you said you’re not that good of a cook. This is amazing.” Yachi hesitates but Kiyoko-san smiles and lets her take another bite as the third year takes her notebook out.

“I got lucky this time, I guess,” Kiyoko-san chuckles. Yachi wonders if she really did just get lucky—it’s what usually saved herself, sometimes, especially since she’s just learning to cook—or if she’s just being modest. Yachi thinks it’s the latter though.

They eat lunch while sharing notes on Miyagi prefecture teams. They run through basic information for each team—coaches, starting line-ups, and recent wins—and both came up with the conclusion that yes, the road to nationals is indeed going to be tough. There are tough teams to beat.

“I’d like to think we can beat them,” Kiyoko-san says. “We’re a much stronger team now.”

“We are going to,” Yachi says with confidence she usually doesn’t have. Maybe it’s because she’s pertaining to the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team, a team she’s _actually_ confident in, and not herself. “We’re going to find these teams’ weaknesses and find opportunities to win.”

Kiyoko looks at Yachi at that, looking quite proud. “That actually sounds intimidating,” she says with a small smirk. Yachi turns pink and takes a gulp of her strawberry milk.

“Am I not intimidating normally?” She mumbles, and Kiyoko full on _laughs._

“Yachan, let’s be honest, you’re not. You’re more of…” The third year picks a cucumber and pops it in her mouth. “Cute,” she settles with. Yachi puffs out her cheeks at that but Kiyoko-san continues with a smile. “It’s not a bad thing. What’s important is that you persevere as a manager. Us third years won’t be here next year anymore and, you know, we’ll be satisfied to know we’re leaving the team to competent hands.”

 _Us third years won’t be here next year anymore_ echoes in Yachi’s head and before she knows it, she feels her eyes water.

In a short time, she is already attached to the team. Especially Kiyoko-san. She can’t imagine next year without her taking Yachi under her wing, and she can feel the onset of panic surge through her and—

And then there’s a warm hand on her shaking one on the makeshift table, and she glances up to meet calm, grey eyes.

“Are you okay?” Kiyoko-san asks. Yachi pulls her hand and fumbles to wipe away the tears building up at the corner of her eyes.

“Y-yeah! Th-there’s just a mosquito on my eye,” Yachi lies. It’s obvious that Kiyoko-san doesn’t believe her but she doesn’t prod, just smiles reassuringly at the first year.

“You’ll do great, Yachan,” she sincerely says, the concern on her face turning into a proud smile. Yachi almost cries again at that. “You’re already a great manager as is. You even stayed up all night to work on this,” she adds, gesturing to the notes the first year had prepared the night before.

Yachi shrugs, the rim of her eyes red with barely shed tears. “I learn from the best.”

Kiyoko’s smile brightens even more at that. “You’re just saying that because I fed you.”

Yachi giggles and steals a slice of cucumber from her fellow manager’s lunchbox. “I could feed you tomorrow and say the same thing.”

“You cook, too?” Kiyoko-san asks, and Yachi nods. “Aren’t you perfect,” she teases, making Yachi blush. “But I’m not really surprised. Your hot chocolate is great, so I wouldn’t expect any less.”

“I’m just learning,” the blonde clarifies.

“You say that, but I’ll bet your stew is better than mine.”

“I haven’t even fed you yet, Kiyoko-san.”

The third year shrugs. Yachi likes to think the smile on her lips never left.

“So I may be kind of biased,” she says simply, stealing Yachi’s carton of strawberry milk. She looks at the younger girl as she takes a sip of the drink, her eyes sharp and shiny with _something_ Yachi can’t place. The younger girl feels her heart stutter at the lingering gaze. She flushes a deep red, looks away and takes a big bite of her sandwich.

They finish lunch and pack up their things before heading out to their classrooms. Kiyoko-san insists on walking Yachi to hers so she did. Yachi doesn’t think much of the possible rabid fans that are probably enumerating all the ways they could get rid of her as she walks through the corridor beside the lovely, lovely Shimizu Kiyoko, because she’s busy in her own thoughts. Her racing heart has yet to calm down and she’s not sure why.

She knows it’s not because of the numerous threats that could make their way any second now, that much she’s sure of.

“I’ll see you later at practice, Hitoka-chan,” Kiyoko says before she leaves. Yachi watches her walk away, dark hair and pale skin and grace, and it’s only when she feels a bump on her shoulder that she finds her heart calm once more.

“Hey, Yachi, isn’t that the pretty third year from before?” Someone asks.

Yachi stares at the space where Kiyoko-san had walked before turning to her classmate. “Yeah,” she answers simply. _The pretty third year,_ she echoes in her head. The bell rings, and she’s not sure if the way her heartbeat skipped is because of the surprise from her thought, or from the shrill sound of that cursed thing.

_Sweet jellybeans._


End file.
